Stitch Triverse, BOOK 1: UNION
by Haisai-DBarenzu
Summary: In BOOK 1 of this story based on the Stitch franchise, Yuna and Stitch, after a series of events on Izayoi, are vaulted to an alternate Kamakura. Kyozuki, a surfer city boy and his Experiment 626 are quick to make friends with the two. But later, a threat known as the Astral Jumpers oppose the UGF, starting with Yuna. Surely there's more to the Jumpers? And what is Cosmos Colossi?
1. SEPARATE

**A PROLOGUE...**

* * *

This is the story of an alien named Stitch. He's a genetically created Experiment by Dr. Jumba Jookiba who crashlanded twice onto Earth. And he was created for nothing but destruction, mischief and evil. But things change. The first time was in Kauai, Hawaii, where he met a Hawaiian girl named Lilo, who taught Stitch how to be good and the key to "ohana", a word that means family in Hawaiian. However, time passed, and after a misunderstanding and a Galactic Federation mission, Stitch left for space again. This is where the second time comes in, as Stitch crashlands onto an island in the Ryukyus called Izayoi Island, where he met another girl, an Okinawan blackbelt and tomboy named Yuna. There, the two became best friends and Stitch gained knowledge of an Okinawan legend that would change his entire game plan. The two's journey continues to this day, as they trek around to get Stitch's good deeds higher and higher, so he can achieve a legendary wish from the island's "utaki", the Spiritual Stone. The magic number 43 comes to mind too...

...However, a multiverse can hold many secrets. What if there was more than just one Stitch? What if the worlds held more to the Galactic Federation than you imagined? What if there were people whose lives were devastated from fate? And what if "ohana" hung in the balance of much more than just your closest friends? This is what our story's setting on. A triad of this multiverse forming over the course of a Ryukyuan summer. And we'll find out just what it means when "ohana" evolves beyond just Stitch and Yuna. We'll find out what it means to be a Triverse. Unity is the key to the secrets of many worlds, even these...

**Chapter 1  
SEPARATE**

* * *

The stars themselves aligned perfectly on a day like today. However, Earth wasn't where these stars were found, it was a planet called Zurina. Farther away from the Milky Way Galaxy, Zurina was among a sister galaxy to the Turo system afar known as the Auros Galaxy.

The planet was mostly mountainous, save for the center, a vista of a city called Grandia. Grandia was perfect, trees in the right place, skyscrapers abound and any residents nearby could feel at peace.

That was unless you realized the truth of this city- that it was corrupt behind its perfection, because a form of royalty, a prince named Ito, took over this city and wants nothing more but its "perfection" as its namesake. He even uses robots called BIOS-620s to enforce this, robots that bear a look almost like a genetic creation people should know. However, this peace was about to be challenged today...

Deep inside the palace walls in the center of the city, someone stood with a triangular rune in her hands. It seemed to be a diminutive hooded figure, with the only identifiable parts of her being a twin set of gigantic ponytails, a graphic mahogany sweater coupled with a neon red floral shirt, a pair of dark green shorts tied by a belt, and an odd set of green sandals combined with black socks. Socks and sandals, one would think? Regardless, she tapped a red jewel on the mechanism on her arm, talking into it.

"Kyohaku, you ready," she asked, as a familiar voice replied- "Ih. Explosive issa all set, princess. Tay get the Tri-Rune?"

Her tone simply erked back. "First of all, _don't_ call me princess. Second, yes. It's in my hands right now and I'm waiting on your call, Kyohaku."

After that snarky reply from the girl, the other end bit back- "Fine. But tay know that issa all on you, okitaka?"

"Yes. Obviously, I know I'm in control here. Thanks, Kyohaku. Now... let's get this going before Ito catches us sleeping in his den," she slated back as she tapped the gemstone again, cutting off communications with him.

One couldn't see it over the dark of her sweater hood over her, but a smirk grew wide over her... a greedy smirk. Another tap of her gemstone purged the network of audio in the Grandia quarters with ease.

A moment later, a brief swooning of orchestra broke the peaceful silence of the city. a piece by John Adams, "Short Ride in a Fast Machine". But what followed broke the silence even more than that...

KA-BOOM!

A large ball of fire erupted from Ito's palace! Debris and all fell too and fro from the devastation, and a simple shaded figure flew out with the fire. This girl took a dive into a tube nearby, a tube filled with an odd and alien oxygenated liquid called Chasita.

Normally, a resident of Grandia would use this to get from one location to the next at a good velocity, but this mysterious female was using this as her getaway. Her smirk within the Chasita Tube signed victory in her head, her stuffing away the giant triangular slab of stone into a pack on her back. However, her victory was halted by a simple word!

"HALT! INTRUDER! RETURN STOLEN GOODS IMMEDIATELY!"

This girl flipped around in the liquid in order to meet eyes with who challenged her. As she thought, three of the mecha known as BIOS-620s were behind her in the tube, flying after her. Their build seemed almost alike a certain "evil genius" scientist would've built them.

This made the young vandal pipe up. "I knew this would happen... well, you wanna play? Okay..."

From out of her pockets, she pulled out what looked like an odd playing card. The card had a starlit background and a hexagon pattern, but what was even weirder was what she did with the card, jamming the card into the mechanism on her left arm. In a barrage of light and sparkles, a glowing and almost steampunk-like sword spawned, glowing a powerful stream of aquamarine blue. The blade looked like it was tempered with the powers of galaxies inside itself.

Taking one hand, she grabbed the sword, and finished her sentence- "...let's play rough."

One of the three BIOS-620 units boosted right for her using its claws, but the girl was prepared and made easy work of the metal being, slashing it with a quick slash of her sword and kicking it down out of the Chasita stream, as it flew down into the city. Its impact was met with a explosion rampaging through the plaza it landed on.

Another of the BIOS-620 units aimed lasers at the girl, only to have a sword be flung right into its face. "Bangarang!" she yelled as the galactic blade was tossed into the mech, causing it to falter and fall below. This time, this BIOS-620 fell into a flowing river nearby and blew up, polluting its everclear waters. There was one left.

One last BIOS-620 the young female was faced with._ "This is gonna be a cakewalk,"_ she thought.

That was until a voice she recognized cut through this battle like a knife with a cackling and insane ambition. "A- ah-hah! There you are, you stupid girl! HA!"

At that moment, the last BIOS-620 got picked up by a giant black dash red robotic leg and with ease, crushed to pieces as it was tossed below. What the real focus was on is an even bigger mech that flew in. The appearance was jet black and crimson. What's odder was that this mech was nothing more than a spaceship with giant robotic legs and a cape enshrouded with electrical plugs on the fritz, barely even able to fit in the Chasita Tube and phasing through the liquid. A gestalt mech in its likeness. The girl knew this enemy by name.

"Mechanos!"

Her call was right, this automaton was Mechanos, a robot known for being a Galactic Federation prototype spacecraft that went AWOL due to an electrical problem. Some say this electrical problem was what made it look and even act like what it does today...

"Yes, princess! HA! It's me... eheheh... now, what are you doing here on this fine planet? A stroll? Maybe even... oh, STEALING SOMETHING THAT COULD JEOPARDIZE EVERYTHING!? AHAHAA!" Mechanos screamed from its glowing green yet pixelated face on the cockpit.

The girl had to retort back. "None of your business, you overgrown tin can. Now, why don't you just go back home?"

Mechanos merely cackled insanely at this. "Now, you've gone and hurt my feelings... Heh. HAHA! Well, I guess you're going to have to pay for this! HA!"

His cry vaulted multiple electrical plugs at the youngster, as she had only little time to reply. Using her blade, she spun it around and blocked the plugs, only with little electrical drawback from each plug as it hit her galactic blade.

Something coursed through her mind, as she looked ahead to see a sharp right turn around a alien skyscraper coming up. "_Maybe if I hit it right, I'll... right!"_

Mechanos cackled insanely again. "HAD ENOUGH... huh!? HA! HA-"

Another call from the girl burst through this with quick thinking and precision- "Bangarang!"

The sword hit the gigantic Mechanos and caused him to fly off-tilt. However, the odd part was that there was no painful grunts coming from him as the blade caused him to go off course... only insanity. With little time, the messy automaton smashed into the side of the skyscraper, causing every piece of the building to come crashing down below to the ground atop the abomination.

The sword came flying back like a boomerang, as the girl caught it, making a quick way to a rendezvous point in a upper alleyway unaffected.

Only a few words escaped the girl's mouth. "Rest in pieces, you insane bucket of bolts. Hmph..."

Of course, Mechanos wasn't so easily taken down, but it was a mere subduing so that the girl could get away...

Waiting in the alley was a weird sight. Experiment 626? No. It was Experiment 626, only... different. A spiky hairdo, ear ring, and an attire of a Galactic Federation officer was on him. On top of that, he had a mechanism much like the girl's, and on his left arm, a piece of stolen Galactic Federation technology in the form of a electronic claw arm of sorts.

He was sidled against the wall when something erupted from the Chasita Tube nearby, the runaway girl. She wasn't soaked from the Chasita, surprisingly, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped forward.

"Took ya long enough... Pagoota," the odd Experiment 626 said.

She retorted back. "Shut up, Kyohaku Stitch. Let's see you try and make this mission any easier, especially with Mechanos trying to kill yours truly. Seriously, we're not having mecha-madness again."

Kyohaku Stitch simply shook his head. Knowing this, Kyohaku Stitch's reputation held high because of his bounty hunter status... but of course, that came crashing down when he took in this odd girl. Who was she?

"Well, okitaka, if you got the Tri-Rune, take off the hood and let's see," Kyohaku paused as the girl took off her mahogany hood.

The face it revealed was surprising. It was a young girl, 8 years old, with messy flaxen hair, one spike of it notably coming out on her forehead. Made sense with the twin ponytails she had tailing her. Her face had golden lashy eyes and freckles.

One only had to take in just how young this girl was to be doing things as dangerous as her, Kyohaku Stitch continuing- "...Yai Galaxia."

Yaiko Galaxia and her double Kyohaku Stitch served as galactic criminals running away through the galaxies for years, dubbed the Astral Jumpers due to their reputation and ways. But Yai had much more to her... something that she didn't choose to tell to many folks since Kyohaku found her.

However, you could tell that whatever it was she had hidden away, it made her cold. Very, very cold and critical. One could even say this girl had to mature early in her life.

"Well, fine. I brought this our way, so we may as well take a gander," Yai said, taking out the stone triangle from the back of her pack.

This stone triangle they retrieved came from Ito's collection of tablets from around the galaxies, often telling of worlds far away or apart. This one in particular was called the Tri-Rune. The twin set of eyes that gazed onto the stone revealed what it looked like.

It was a triangle picture with three humans on it- a young girl with an odd island hairstyle vaulting her hand for a much older teenager with glasses. A girl in the back with an X-shaped scar. And three aliens spread throughout this galactic nexus, looking suspiciously similar to the Experiment 626 nearby. It felt like it was a legend of some kind, but Yai gave an odd look.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke? Seriously, look at this!", she said. "There's three of you? That's gotta be impossible, Kyohaku. And this girl and this guy? The guy I could care less about... but this girl? Something about her rubs me the wrong way... don't know if it's that smile or that odd carefree embrace, but maybe I can repress that..." a growl followed before she continued.

"And what about that girl in the back, is that supposed to be me?" Kyohaku piped up. "Maybe issa just a lucky guess?"

"Maybe it's just a piece of trash we should hang onto" she bited back.

"Princess, naga call it that!" Kyohaku stated, only for Yai to rebel once more. "And why not!? It told us nothing... and if that is me, they got the likeness off... Especially with that scar."

Yai and Kyohaku's argument ended with her stuffing away the stone tablet into her pack again, with her giving one more retort. "Oh, and one more thing? _Don't_ call me princess. You know how much I hate that name with a vengeance..."

"Okitaka..." Kyohaku Stitch groaned at Yai.

Yai finished their business with a final beckon. "Now, let's get out of here, Kyohaku- before we get Mechanos or Ito on our backs... heck hath no fury like a metal abomination or an angry Royal."

Met with a nod, Kyohaku used his claw and scratched right into a wall nearby. However, the wall wasn't producing rubble from being scratched at, but a gateway. Kyohaku Stitch was ripping right into space to open a portal to another world, as that's what his Galactic Federation arm was supposed to do- create gateways to other worlds. Experimental Galactic Federation tech at its finest, one would think.

Thus, with the portal open, Kyohaku Stitch waved Yai in, as the two left deep into the galactic portal out of Grandia. Where were they going? Nobody knew for sure, but it was obvious this wasn't going to be the last time we'd see the Astral Jumpers around these parts...

* * *

The stars also made their way to a city... though it wasn't closeby in our solar system. Could it have been in a parallel one? One imagines, as this Earth city had its lights and sounds erupt from the nocturne. Kamakura was the name of this Earth city, and it was a city that was immersed in a busy body environment and was the closest city in proximity to Japan's industry front of Tokyo.

In most cases, Kamakura was also a big surfer's hotspot and one of the biggest places that celebrated a cartoon character known as Stitch... you heard right, "cartoon character". Of course, from a small ice cream shop in the city streets came the call of a young teenager...

"BANG! "Chromium Spikes"! ...Read 'em and weep," the teen said, placing a trading card down in a heated game of the city's famed card game, "Stitch to the Cosmos". Another young boy looked nearby, inspecting the scene of the attack he was up against in the game.

"You... You _didn't_!?" he blinked in astonishment, about to shout out a name...

"KYOZUKI! HOW DID YOU TAKE DOWN MY "MECHA-LOID CANNONBALL"!?"

Yes, the teenager in this ice cream shop playing the card game was named Kyozuki Yamada, yet everyone called him Kyo. He was a tall 13-year-old sort, with a flamboyant red and spiky hairstyle, and a set of orange glasses to boot covering his brown eyes. He also had the look of a laidback punk, with a floral shirt, a pair of beige shorts that were done with a belt and a pair of Sony headphones around his neck at almost all times. Laidback wouldn't be far off, as he also had big-time surfer under his traits. Much like the rest of the Kamakuran folk, he was a crazy Stitch fanatic, yet he was one of the biggest.

"Well, dude, it was a simple stroke of luck... "Chromium Spikes" just wipes out your "Mecha-loid Cannonball" with its effect. Spikes launch, he's devastated and I'm left with the last laugh! Good game though, Daichi, but you're not getting my "Sharp-Dressed Stitch" card today!", Kyo said with a laugh to his friend Daichi.

Daichi was an even different fare. He was a boy with langsat skin and a rather simple attire of a orange muscle shirt with a belted pair of dark green shorts. His green eyes looked astonished at the game he lost, but even weirder was his frizzy black hair with a single speck sticking out of it all. This boy was Kyo's accomplice, always challenging him to some kind of game for the stakes of his rarities... seldom would he come to win though.

"You- you- Impossible! How'd-" Daichi was at a loss of words.

Kyo though, sent him along- "You oughta know the Conquest booster packs came out today! The GAME-Haruda Shop got them, and Mrs. Yamashiro was kind enough to give me a buy two, get one free special!"

Daichi sat with a melting sundae nearby still dumbfounded as to how his "near flawless" attack plan failed in the card game, as Kyo sat back up, stuffing his card deck into his pocket.

"Well, I'm hitting the road, it's been fun, but I promised Chiro I'd hang with her tomorrow and I'd need a snooze," Kyo walked off, as he flicked a yen coin at the table that Daichi was left to sit at, giving a call back.

"Oh, and by the way, that's for you. It'll pay for the half-melted sundae you never finished. Consider it an Aisu Machi tab..." following that with a sheepish laugh on his way out, leaving Daichi with a sigh and a recalculation for him.

Yet Kyo came back again with one last chirp- "One more thing... smooth moves at the "flash-mob" tonight!"

And with a wink, he finally left, leaving Daichi wallowing in defeat.

The Kamakuran night was balmy but calm, as any big city in the summertime would. The Kamakura cityscape was aglow with Stitch marketing and real life affiliations- Coca-Cola signs, giant Mickey Mouse heads, billboards of many a real life product placement, the works of what you'd find in real life.

Kyo walked silently with his headphones over his ears, the sounds of loud techno music drowning out the remaining night noise, thinking about something on his mind... what it was wasn't really well known. However, the night sky had other says in the matter, as his look in the sky from the sidewalk he was standing on met with a shooting star from above...

He propped his headphones on his neck as usual, shutting the music he was listening to on his phone off.

"Huh... a shooting star? Dude... That's o- wait, what!?" His astonishment came from what the shooting star was doing, something no ordinary star would do out of the blue.

The star quickly gave a green glow as it was on a crash course down to Kamakura! The path of the flying object jettisoned left, right, every which way until it hit the nearby Edoshima Electrical Railway, jittering the electrical power here and there. Kyo couldn't believe it, a shooting star just crashed into the city railway and there was something nearby to help this query.

A setup of TV boxes nearby in an electronics shop started with a "breaking news" report from a male news reporter.

"_This just in! An unidentified flying object, commonly seen as a shooting star has come crashlanding down into the fields inbetween that of Edoshima Electrical Railway. We urge those city folk in Kamakura not to go into the area until the situation is cleared and cleaned up. Any and all electrical problems and train derailments is entirely due to this unexpected event. Any inconvenience..."_

The news reporter droned on and on urging the Kamakuran folk not to go near the Edoshima Electrical until it was dealt with. Kyozuki though had an idea in his head... While he was at most times a coward, there was no way a star could come crashing down from the sky and there be something not fishy about it. So he started running for the Electrical Railway's place, just west of where he was in the city, the smoke rising from the wreckage afar.

But yet he had a set of eyes behind watching him... a man in a black suit with black shades eyed his running after the railway.

Tapping into an intercom of some sort, he said in a gruff voice "Guys? A boy's enroute to the emergence site... Wait until morning to scope the area of any suspicious activity."

A few minutes later, Kyo's speedy arrival there wasn't met with any authorities on the patrol, in fact, the event was far too soon for anyone of the sort to arrive. Kyo did see though just what this star tore through on its descent, as power lines sparked outside and there was noticeable damage on the railway's side.

"Oh my God... What ripped through here like a tidal wave?" he stated without a delay. However, down in the lower fields supporting the rails was where Kyozuki wanted to be, so he made his way down rather carefully what with the damage, his careful turning into dopey within the minute...

A lot of yelling and quick saves down the path had an out of breath Kyo step out of into the narrow fields inbetween where the railway met up with beams and paths. "AH! A- fine, fine! I'm outta here! First a bunch of electrical wires and now stupid cats, give me a break... wha?"

Kyo had just laid eyes with the damage done... most of those beams were toppled over, and what looked like a sign for a movie upcoming wrecked. There was even a shovel knocked over nearby, probably from a worker nearby.

But that wasn't what shocked Kyozuki, what shocked him was the amassing of green smoke that rose from the landing site of whatever this odd "shooting star" was...

Kyo stepped forward, looking a little fearful for his life, yet still curious all the same. "Uhh... hello? Anyone in there? Olly olly oxen-free!"

No sound seemed to come out of the wreck that was the "shooting star". Unease began to grow from the suspenseful scenario...

But so sudden was the worst that came out of the ground, the sight of a shadowed claw that rose up from the landing space, a claw that instantly sent a shot of fear into Kyo's heart what with the growl that followed behind.

He looked on, trying to inspect just what had stepped out from the "shooting star", but something seemed to ring a bell about this claw.

Yet the claw wasn't the only bit revealed in time, as a body rose up from the ground. This body was small, stubby, set with four arms, two legs and a set of spines and antennae.

Kyo gave a worried yelp, his eyes widening from behind those glasses of his, as the smoke blew away to unveil just what it was that stepped out of the wreckage of the supposed star that fell from above, loud growling included.

He knew it a mile away as just a cartoon character in the city he lived in, one who lived with one of two little girls, but the doubt of him being in reality stung in hard.

"S- Stitch!? ...No- No way!" Kyo said, as the blue monster in front of him stood with a genuine urge to hurt whoever he was looking at... keyword: him.

A growl, a yell from Kyo and the bang of a shovel nearby was all that was heard in the railway's lying fields. Silence after. Yes, Kyo took to defending himself with the shovel nearby knocking the fright out, with the right decision made.

This was the night that Kyozuki Yamada had met Experiment 626... and the victor was told by the sound of sandal-laden footsteps carrying something in a box, more like. Was it an attempt to kill the beast? Or an attempt to save a misunderstood creature?

The answer was quite obvious knowing a fanatic like Kyo.

"A Stitch... in reality?" were the only words left as Kyo ran back to his Uncle's house, masking the truth...

* * *

Yet still within our solar system, Earth was still an important part of our story. But where on Earth where we? Sunlight gave its light down upon from the skies above, an island breeze swaying too and fro from out here. The humidity, the skies and all else that this was indeed the tropics. Islands could be seen from the distance. The peace of this was almost tranquil, like one could fall asleep to the sounds of the oceans rolling and the nature of the scenery...

However, that peace was short-lived, as a boat slashed through the ocean waters afar. The boat seemed like your standard tourism boat, but alas, signs pointed against that from the driver singing something.

"My Bonnie lies over the ocean! My Bonnie lies over the sea," a elderly man with buck teeth, white frizzy hair and a sailor's attire sang.

He finished this up with a beck farther back the ship. "Ahoy, are you newbie islanders gonna come out to see your new home? C'mon, c'mon!"

This man was actually known afar and wide as Mr. Meade. Off where they were headed, he was heralded as a master of the railways, riding his train Polly across the paven paths. He often graced a nice cap and overalls with his rail job.

However, sometimes he would also double as a captain of a ship, thus where his steamboat Bonnie came in here. It appeared that his boat wasn't a mere empty this time around either...

The first of the faces to step out the back of the boat were a twin set of new faces... or so one would imagine. A girl with long, blue hair stepped out into the sunlight. In addition, another face what looked like a goat-like creature also stepped out. The girl had blue eyes, a yellow hairband around her head, a red scarf around her neck and a fragrant yellow dress. Her face was cute and perky at that, as her blue eyes finally laid eyes over the ocean ahead.

"Oh my... THIS was where our good friend lives?! My, my... when she visited Hong Kong, she never went on about this at all, right Milston?"

Her little creature replied with a simple sheepish "Keh".

Her little beast, while looking alike a goat, had a fragrant beige and pink coat with blue horns, along with yellow claws and hooves. The girl spoke again-

"Well then... looks like she has little ol' Yoko coming her way... thanks Daddy," following up with the cutest giggle one could've heard while alluding to a "her" of some kind.

This girl and monster combo were the Hong Kong natives Yoko and Milston. Yoko was a particular girly girl priding herself on her adorable look, while her small friend Milston had a bit of a short fuse.

Milston though had a bit of a secret being kept that really applied to his look harkening to a goat. He was related to a certain "evil genius" where they were headed. In addition to this, it seemed like she had a good friend out there too, as she and her partner Milston were moving out with her father to their new home... wherever that was.

The noise of the two talking brought out another of the new faces, another girl about a year older than the young Yoko. A person of color with solid green eyes and a odd hairstyle, she stepped out. The way she looked also had something odd, as she was dressed in a magenta shirt, teal pants and it was all done up with a heart-emblemed belt.

"Hey, what's the funky noise out here? We getting close to home yet?" she said. Yoko and Milston looked in confusion at her. Did she just spit out slang from back in the 70s?

The girl shifted a brow- "What? Was it something I jived out?", she continued.

Yoko finally spoke, "Umm... no, not that! Your "jive talk" is fine! It's just... who are you? You also heading where we're going?"

The girl nodded with a fab way. "Yep! Sure am. My name's Jenna, how fly is it to meet you, huh?", following that weird display up with a shake of Yoko's hand while she looked just as confused...

This girl, Jenna, was another of the folks heading to a place anew. Her family and her lived in Osaka before and due to unforeseen circumstances, it forced them to take the move.

Jenna was unique though. Remember that weird hairstyle? Turns out she was the only one in her family with a afro! A big spiky afro! To top things off, it seemed as though her slang was stuck almost 30 years ago in the 1970s, though she didn't seem to be under disco fever... yet anyhow.

Yoko finally broke her confusion with a chime up. "Jenna, huh? My name's Yoko, cutest of Hong Kong... or one of them at least!"

She then motioned to her little buddy Milston. "And this is Milston," the beastie following up with his brightest signature "Keh".

"Nice to meet you!"

Yoko shook Jenna's hand with laughs from both the girls and even moreso, it seemed that before they even made it to their new destination, that Yoko and Jenna made a friend in one another, despite Jenna's... 70s fixed self.

"Aww, seems like you young'uns are already makin' friends," Mr. Meade said.

However, there was one more of the families moving that had yet to be seen. Right at the back of the boat and farther away from the rather silly captain and the two new friends was one last girl, a bit of a tall one at that. She seemed rich, as her look and clothes represented.

Her look? She had luxurious caramel hair done up in a pink bow and abound in spiral curls, alike a TV celebrity named Princess Michigo... but perhaps a little _too_ much like her. Her purple lash-coveted eyes, a warm colored frilly shirt and a pair of jean shorts almost akin to daisy dukes also defined her. She didn't speak a word yet, but she was holding a picture of a blue-haired boy.

"I don't care what they say, Takumi. I don't care _what_ happens! I'm still gonna keep that crush for you! You handsome soccer player! I may be moving away to some backwater place far from Okinawa New Town and away from my friends... Toriko and Mokiko... But whatever! I won't... give up my love for you. I promised those two I wouldn't! Ever! EVER!"

She ended that monologue of hers hugging the photo like someone insane would their straitjacket.

Upon opening her purple eyes, she chuckled, realizing just how insane she might've sounded right now. Or rather... she did sound to a curious Milston nearby her.

"Keh keh?" Milston said, poking her leg. This ritsy girl looked down at the weird goat creature... and what followed was a loud scream.

Jenna and Yoko rushed back to the back of the boat. "What the?"

Turns out the two girls found Milston atop this new girl's head, as she screamed "GET IT OFF! GET THIS THING OFF OF MY HEAD!" She growled and threw poor Milston off her head, as Yoko caught him.

"Hey, what's the big idea being so mean to Milston?" Yoko asked, clearly not pleased.

"I'll tell you what it is, that's no normal goat that rummaged through my hair! That's a freak of nature," the girl screamed at the top of her lungs.

Jenna then retorted- "I'd rephrase that if I were you...", giving a smirk. Our new girl gave a look clueless as to why, as she sniffed... smelling something... burning.

A simple eye roll up revealed what it was burning. Turns out, Milston apparently left a few sparks in this girl's hair and it caught fire! She yelled loudly again as Jenna quickly grabbed a bucket filled with seawater nearby and put out the slight sparks.

However, in the process, the girl's appearance _quickly_ took a turn, as she was drenched from head to toe, her attire and her luxurious hair... well, weren't so luxurious anymore.

She growled angrily, pointing at Jenna and Yoko along with the now shoulder-perched Milston. "HOW DARE YOU! My hair's a national treasure in New Town, and _now _look at it! It's all... a mess!"

Jenna jived back as any- "Hey, now if we didn't put out that disco inferno, you'd be paying the price, missy! Now, apologize to lil' Milston!"

The girl crossed her arms and gave a shrill judge. "How about never in a million years?!"

Yoko tried to step in to resolve things. "Now, now... look, you're probably heading the same place we are and it's best we don't have any bad blood, right? Right?"

Milston merely chuckled at this "bad blood" comment as this new girl merely looked with a vengeance. "You just made bad blood with me, remember that..." the girl said before walking past them into the boat's rooms.

But not before coming back- "Oh, and by the way? 70s lingo and irresistible cuteness are _so _out this year!"

Jessica turned around, swiftly marching off again to go fix herself back up.

Everyone had to wonder just who that was who caused the ruckus. She seemed like such a bully.

"Geez... what a rowdy dreamgirl" Jenna said.

Yoko nodded and asked "Yeah, who was she?"

Turns out Mr. Meade at the front of the boat had an answer. "That, gal pals was our new rich resident... her name's Jessica, hailing in from that fancy Okinawa New Town over the way. Her father says she had to give away quite a lot to come this way... and while she's not a fan, she's making due. Or at least, as much ado as someone like her just showcased..."

Jessica. One could tell from how much she cared for herself and herself alone, her maribelle-like dialect and just all around shove-y nature that Jessica wasn't necessarily good news. Milston laughed again, recalling the Takumi picture she carried with her.

"Anyways, now that everyone is acquainted, why don't you young'uns look ahead at your new home on the horizon?" Mr. Meade said. Jenna, Milston and Yoko looked ahead, or rather Yoko and Milston looked again.

Across the ocean waters the boat was cutting through like a knife lied an island on the rise. The island was covered in forest, beach and town in particular and looked as pristine as any of the other places out here.

Jenna spoke "Holy... what is this groovy place?"

Mr. Meade finally spit the words out. "Well, m'girls- welcome to Izayoi Island. This is where your new home is."

Izayoi Island lied among the Ryukyu Islands, where Mr. Meade's boat Bonnie had sailed through in order to reach here. But not just any of the Ryukyus, Izayoi lied south of the Okinawan mainland.

Izayoi was known for its tourism, culture and even moreso- happenings involving a blue creature of some kind and his friend a proper blackbelt, whose name remained up in the air. Pristine and beautiful were two words that came to mind upon the sight of Izayoi Island.

The island also had some mysticism to it, yet how though remained a mystery unless you actually lived on the isle.

Turns out that Jenna, Yoko and Jessica were moving into fair Izayoi here, all for different reasons. As the ship was coming closely into port on the Chitama Town harbor, complete with its boats and wavecrashers, Yoko let loose words that summed up the excitement of moving into this place.

"Well, guys... this is gonna be something supercalifragilisticexpiali... doh... how'd the rest of that word go?"

However, it turns out that the island was expecting these new folks... It didn't seem like it at first, especially pulling close to the Chitama Town harbor, but it was so. But alas, what of a certain other two Izayoi islanders, this murmured girl and blue beast? Did they know about the coming of these folk?


	2. CONFLICTED

**Chapter 2  
CONFLICTED**

* * *

Chitama Forest. A place known for its natural beauty. It was smack dab in the center of the island of Izayoi and was well-known for being the bridge to all sorts of places on the island- Tomo Lake, the Tsunagu River, the many caverns and woods about, the list would go on and on. Being near and dear to the town, one would expect this forest to be rather ordinary... but alas, that wasn't the case.

Out near the middle of the forest and where the marsh met the oceans nearby, there stood a gigantic stone ensnared by roots. At first sight, it was just a useless moss-covered stone. But to the islanders around, this was called the island "utaki" or island "place of spiritual belief"- which meant the islanders would come to wish and pray for well being in the hopes that spirits above would listen.

This gave it the official dub of the Spiritual Stone. It was a monolith that exuded energy unlike anything seen. It was a source to many of the island's mysteries. It was used for purity and even craved for notoriety. And all in all, it was like the "heart" of the island due to its location.

The peace of this stone wasn't in vain though, as like every day, someone stepped up to give their own wish and prayer to the mythical Spiritual Stone of the island. But it wasn't your average anyone either.

"Oh, great Spiritual Stone..."

Standing before the Spiritual Stone, like any other day, was a young girl. She seemed tall for her age, and had tan skin to her. A round head and athletic physique also added, with eyes closed upon placing her hand on the stone.

Her apparel was a nice red and yellow floral shirt, a pair of navy blue slacks that met to her knees, and a pair of red and yellow sandals with a heart emblem right at the junctions. More striking than all of this was her hair, two bangs that sat side by side her head and her ears and twin sets of triple pigtails caught in crystal blue braids added, an odd hairstyle, but on a Japanese island, it wasn't like there were any stranger out there. She continued with her wish despite nary any first impressions.

"I know I usually come with a wish, but today I wanted to switch things up. Sometimes I have to wonder... if there exists other places out there. My friend Stitch'd know just what I'm talking about. And my mind's on those who really live out there, breathe out there," her hand slowly tread downward across the stone.

"I hope it isn't too much of me to wish... that someday that I get to see those worlds. Land. Sea. Sky. Whatever it may be."

Her hand kept straightly on there, a sense of bravery reaffirmed.

"And as always... if that can't be done, I still hope you can keep my Daddy safe... so he can come home to me and Gram. Especially for that BIG Aguni Island trip he's taking me and Stitch on."

The girl took her hand off the stone and stood back, opening her brown eyes. "Just... you didn't hear that from my lips, Spiritual Stone. But... If you could... Thanks."

She gave a smile that not only seemed sincere, but seemed as if to cover the girl's own sentiments and care. Only one type of girl would try and be so rebellious yet adventurous. A tomboy.

And that's just who it was. The girl's name was Yuna Kamihara, a 10-year-old with a rough and tough attitude... but remained sweet and able for those around her as well. A tomboy in all aspects, she was known around Izayoi Island for her knowledge as a blackbelt and owner of the Chitama dojo in the martial art of karate (having taken over the role due to her grandfather's passing). She also was known for following mysterious spirits on the isle, much akin to her grandmother.

Yuna looked up at the stone after her wishery to find that the Spiritual Stone had given an afterglow... a faint aquamarine afterglow. To an experienced eye in spiritual signals, this'd imply that the spirits above the skies would've been pleased as punch to hear your wishes. And one would have to be of kind heart and not of selfish mind in order for the spirits to keep your wish alight without it burning out.

Speaking of mysterious spirits, beings unlike any animal seen before watched her from atop the forest's trees. Blob-like creatures with leaves atop their heads. Eyeballs with anthropomorphic features. Floating fireballs with faces. These only fit some of the bill of whom were watching, as any rational person would scream at the sight of these weirdos.

The on-lookers were some of the island's "yokai". These creatures were legendary- embodying elements of some kind, causing mischief for others or even moreso, are just lost spirits whom require a helping hand. Yuna herself has met many of these and even befriended them in previous experiences.

But this wasn't the only being she was friends with- human or yokai alike, as the serene grace of the island winds in the forest and the glow of the Spiritual Stone was to have another visitor... another friend...

"Oh, Yuna! Yuna? Olly olly oxen free!? Gaba tay!?"

The being that marched and shouted through the forest greens was a buggy voice, one that seemed like it was still learning the native tongue of Earth.

He was a fair blue creature, with notched ears, a mix of blue and light blue furs and a simply bug-eyed expression that gave the look of a disfigured dog who may have been run over one too many times with a truck. Yet as mean as that sounded, it was factoid that this look wasn't mere coincidence. The girl recognized the voice a mile away though.

"Huh? Oh, hey Stitch! What's up?"

What Yuna said seemed true. This blue marvel was Stitch, the beloved Experiment 626 created by mastermind Dr. Jumba Jookiba, self-proclaimed "evil genius" and the very creator of over 600 various genetic Experiments. Stitch was created for nothing but evil, nothing but destruction... but it took the actions and love of a single human girl named Lilo in Hawaii to change things.

Nowadays, Stitch's home is here on Izayoi Island, living with Yuna, the one who keeps Stitch on the lease of good, and her grandmother. Let's not get into the details...

"Issa done tay's Stone small-talk today?" Stitch gave a shifty-eyed look.

Yuna, hiding the fact of her Dad well, chimed back- "Duh! I was wishing to be the best in karate! Like always!"

Stitch could have easily read Yuna's reaction as a guise to cover her butt, since even he knew how much she missed her father. However, not today, as he realized something going down.

"Ah- never mind about Daddy Dearest! Meega rushed by to tell tay, something big issa going down in Chitama Town! Everyone's there- even Penny in her ugliest dress! Blech!" Stitch droned.

Yuna didn't look all too impressed at the mention of a girl named Penny. "Really? You came all this way to tell me Penny's in town square?" Yuna guffawed. "What's she doing, flaunting that so-called "wonderfulness" again?"

Stitch corrected with that usual alien tone of his. "Naga, naga... she's welcoming? Something about new townsfolk?"

Yuna's eyes widened a bit with a slight gasp. "Oh man! Today's the day those new townsfolk move in, don't they? The ones that Penny's Dad has been squabbling on about for the last week or so!"

Stitch's nod only confirmed things were just as he said, something BIG was indeed happening in Chitama Town. Yuna bucked up and nodded confidently, as if taking on a challenge of some kind. "Right! Then let's jet our way to town, right?"

Stitch replied with a simple answer- "Ih, maka maka!"

With that, the duo of red and blue dashed off out of the forest. What they didn't catch was one of the yokai in the trees, one with a leaf atop its head known as a simple "kodama", waving at Yuna as she left. While unnoticed, the thought counted, right?

However, Yuna's leave throughout the trees and greens of Chitama Forest wasn't without a thought in her mind... a thought of something else, a certain trip again-

"_I can't wait... Dad's supposed to be messaging me back soon about our trek to the legendary Aguni Island! Man oh man, it's exciting! We could go harpoon fishing, or I could show Daddy how to bust up some sweet sugarcane, or, or- Darn it, I can't sum up everything into words!"_

The excitement seemed to only add to whatever excitement was coming into town... speaking of, just what was going on in town that left such a buzz abound?

* * *

Chitama Town was always the center of attention on Izayoi Island. It was a market square, straight to the point. Grocery markets, electronics shops, even clothing, trinkets and other goods were sold here. And all from the best island materials out there, from the strongest fabrics to the freshest fields of corn or the tastiest milk to come from cows on the isle.

But the porpoise adorned "Welcome" sign wasn't just a place that signed Chitama Town territory, it was actually a lot more... welcoming today, no pun intended.

The front of the town was all dressed up with a stage platform and a bunch of fancy decorations. Carpets and even polished drapes to boot. Before this rather glorious stage in front of the "Welcome" sign, alot of the islanders stood, young and old. Their confusion seemed on high, as even they didn't know what was so important about today.

"Well, color me surprised... I don't know why this fancy free event was planned!" one of the fish vendors quipped.

"Wasn't there murmur of new people moving in, perhaps? I swear, I heard that in the grapevine!" another vendor added, a woman bread vendor. More and more added to the commotion.

As if on cue, Yuna and Stitch ran right up to the event, spotting two people in the back that they knew off by heart.

"Taro, Sae! Hey there!"

"Aloha, guys!"

The two people Yuna called out to were friends of hers, easily identifiable from their own ways. The first was Taro, a young boy with a bowl-like dark blue haircut (with one hair sticking right up), and a simple attire of a beige shirt over a light blue top, turquoise shorts and a pair of baby blue shoes. He also had a pair of glasses over his grey eyes. To call him geeky would've been an understatement, but he had his moments, especially given the fact Yuna is his dojomate and sensei.

But the other, Sae (or as her name suggests, Sasha), was a girly girl with rouge brown and messy hair, a pair of beady lashy purple eyes, and a skirt and shirt attire that seemed alike that of a sailor in sense, frilly skirt aside. She was always the fashion freak of the group and moreso, Yuna's better friend. One would never truly believe that a tomboy and a girly girl could be besties, especially with the clash of personalities... but this is actually true between Yuna and Sae.

Nonetheless, Sae took notice and waved to Yuna as the two walked up to the commotion going on forward with the stage.

"Oh, hi there Yuna!" Sae gladly said to her.

Taro followed shyly. "Oh... H- Hey there Yuna..."

Yuna questioned the rather popular look of the front of the town easily. "Hey, why's the town in such a dilly-dally mood right now? And why the big stage? Stitch being congratulated again for stopping that shark attack coming for Suzuki the other day?" Stitch shrugging after.

Sae shook her head. "Nope. We actually haven't gotten anything out of Penny or her Dad why this big stage is here."

Taro worked in shyly with his usually wheezy voice- "I heard that it's because of some big important new townsperson moving in."

Yuna nodded with Stitch following her lead. "Yeah, I heard that too! Though, if it is for new townsfolk... don't they think they overdid it a bit too much?"

Stitch had also put his piece in right after Yuna did. "Ih, especially with the red carpet. Izayoi's naga no Hollywood..."

Before Yuna or the rest of her friends could even make any other judge, a voice called out from the top of the stage... one that Yuna didn't quite wanna hear today or any day for that matter.

"Ladies and gentlemen! And blue freaks, of course..."

All eyes were up on the stage platform to see that a rather fluffy-haired blonde girl had taken to the stage with her balding father, the Mayor of Chitama Town. The girl had a puffy hairstyle with a pink ribbon tied in it. But unlike her usual guise, she had a stellar pink dress with black ribbons and a pair of high heels, much unlike any of the young souls on the island. An attire like she sported would've cost hundreds and hundreds of yen to get.

This... was Penny. Penny is known as the richest girl on Izayoi Island due to her relation to her "Daddy", the Mayor of Chitama Town, a pudgy and balding man with a fan and classy complex. She also had a relation to her brother Kenny, a taller and older bully whom, alongside his own friends, is used as servants for the young blonde terror.

While Penny always liked flaunting her belongings, riches and pride to other girls, there was one such girl who never bought into that and fought constantly with her- Yuna. No matter what, Yuna, Stitch and Penny never have and never will get along, and that goes double for her brother and company too. It's the struggle of a stubborn spoilt brat between that of a tomboy and her best friend, "the stray alien from the forest".

"Welcome to the Izayoi Island Welcoming Committee for the Trio of New Islanders!" Penny said, laughing with zeal.

It wasn't REAL zeal though, the two recognized. Yuna looked at her with a raise of her eyebrow, nudging an angry Stitch nearby after the "blue freaks" comment. "Stitch, chill... you'll get your chance later!"

"Now, this whole thing wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for my Daddy arranging this wonderful event... isn't that right?" Penny's father replying with a simple "Mm-hmm..."

"So before we begin this event, I'd like to say that we all give our new islanders a big warm welcome as we call them up here bit by bit! It's not called island unity without the unity!" Penny again, laughing as though hiding a simple hatred.

The rest of the islanders clapped, even Yuna (appearing to be nice), as she muttered quietly to herself.

"Yeah, island unity from you, my butt..." she spotted the hypocrisy in Penny's tone. Stitch couldn't help but snicker at her comment.

"Right! So... first up, we have an islander who comes from Osaka. They came from far ways to be here, so give it up for... Jenna?" she stopped, checking in with her father.

"Yeah, that's her name!", as Penny waved forward a new girl to the island.

Her dark skin and afro seemed to be the biggest clicks as every one of the Izayoi islanders could see that pint of Osaka style, from the heart-emblemed belt she wore to the green eyes of hers.

"Yo! Name's Jenna, from the old-school Osaka place to you guys on Izayoi! Boy, am I glad to set up base here!"

...Silence fell. Penny's eyes twitched from her stand, she was beginning to think Jenna was already a mistake to add to the island. The islanders around were varied between smiles and grins to make her feel welcome to unsure expressions.

Sae and Taro could only grimace a smile at the weird lingo she was spewing. "You heard that, right Taro?" the young Hanagaiken said.

"How could I not? That... 70s terms?" Taro questioned.

Yuna though, was a little more accepting. "Well, at least she's got a charm behind the out-of-date terminology, right? I think?" giggling afterwards.

"Thanks, y'all!"

Jenna walked off the stage, as Penny walked back on, scratching her head in confusion and even badgering her "Daddy".

"Well... that was Jenna. You sure that was the first islander, Daddy?" her father happily nodding without delay with another "Mmm-hmm...", much to her daughter's disgust. But she moved on regardless.

"O- Our second islanders come from Hong Kong, another longer ways, right?"

After Penny said this, Yuna instantly perked up, getting an idea as to who it might've been.

"Hold up! Hong Kong?!", the young Kamihara said.

"She and her... goat... freak... have come in with her family via a job transfer. Give it up... for Yoko?"

She again stopped to check with her father before nodding and sending the duo up on the stage.

Climbing up, the blue-haired Yoko and the equally as magenta Milston looked of a different style to that of the islanders, but this was obviously city style standing out. However, Yuna and Stitch especially were excited from these names. Did they know them from somewhere?

Yoko started as she stood on the stage. "Hi everyone! My name's Yoko! And this little guy's Milston!"

The Experiment gave his trademark sound- "Keh!"

"And we're SO pleased to be on Izayoi Island with you guys. Being from Hong Kong, we've got a bit of cutesy city style to bring with us, so don't hesitate to chat it up with us! After all..."

Yoko followed up with a fold of her hands and a sparkling of her eyes. "Would I lie?"

Penny again looked horrified at this, as she thought _"Really!? What's with all the freaks moving here? Why is it that nobody NORMAL is moving to Izayoi instead of more friends who'll likely go with Yuna and her blue freak!? And what's with her pink lamb!? Is that one of Stitch's stupid cousins?"_

Now, the islanders actually clapped at her, with one of the vendors saying "She's actually pretty cute for someone fresh from Hong Kong!"

"I concur!" another one slated back.

Suddenly, surprising to the other islanders around, Yuna and Stitch popped up and yelled out to Yoko and Milston "Yoko, Milston, let's go! Whoop whoop!" in chanting way, helping the audience effect that much more.

As a matter of fact, Yoko and Yuna did know eachother before. A long while back, Yuna took a trip with her grandmother Obaa to Hong Kong, where Yuna made friends with Yoko here. After a conundrum involving an Experiment in the city, it was ultimately decided that Yoko look after Milston as Yuna and the others headed back to their island home. It's been a bit of time since, but one would imagine the duo seeing the opposite duo left some big rekindling on the both of them.

As Yoko waved at Yuna with a giddish glee and stepped down with her pal Milston atop her head, Penny still looked mortified. Both of the recent islanders she brought up to the stage had something terribly wrong with them. Or at least, in her expectations (which were shallow per the norm for her), they were "terribly wrong".

Penny shook off that feeling though, about to move ahead. Yuna and Stitch on the other hand, looked as though they had to book it.

"I'd love to stay and see who the last newbie to town is, but I gotta go. Dojo practice calls and then we gotta snag some flowers for Gram for a soup she's making!" Yuna stated to Sae and Taro.

"Well, OK, we'll let you know how it turns out!" Sae said reassuring Yuna.

"Aloha!" Stitch yelled in trademark way.

"Right, later!" Yuna and Stitch gave their leave as they ran nearby the wayside of the forest, taking a shortcut to where Yuna's Chitama dojo laid...

Good thing they backed out though, as Penny seemed to drone on and on about this next townsfolk- "So, our next and last of our newbie comes from New Town over the shores... she's super rich, super popular and maybe a bit tacky to add to our town given yours truly. Please welcome..."

Penny checked in with her Dad again. "Jessica, right?" following with another nod and a repeat of her name.

One look at the girl stepping on stage now and the islanders knew... even Penny, that they had another rich rival to stomach. Penny was bad enough, but now this caramel-haired girl seemed to only add to the problem. Her purple and lashy eyes opened up to the audience and she started her spiel with her infamous maribelle accent.

"Well, you must be the islanders I'll come to know here on Izayoi, hmm? Well, I suggest you don't get tired of me, 'cuz we'll roll along just fine, right?" she finished with a laugh.

...Awkward wouldn't even begin to describe the feeling that pun of hers left. The occasional groan, silence and cough all followed, with every islander, young and old baffled at how bad her pun was. Even Penny, the usual island show-off, gave a sinking look at that.

"...She's got a lot to work on before she settles in."

She was right too, her New Town mannerisms just stuck out like a sore thumb already.

Jenna. Yoko. Jessica. The three new faces that would see action in the island were now put forward to the Chitama Town faces. Some were welcomed, some may need some work.

However, island life only seems to go forward, not backward, as Yuna and Stitch seemed out and about for the rest of the day and the new islanders getting settled in... alas, just how would newbies like them settle in?

* * *

While the rest of the day's events seemed to play out, elsewhere in the galaxies above, the Auros Galaxy housed a planet called Opion. Opion was basically a metropolis of fantastic alien and human life merged together, all spread through cityscapes of towering and rounded towers and buildings within a purple Earth-like look from outer space. It was like a wave of white chrome throughout, highway hoops and even interstellar drive included.

Not only that, but Opion was under the control of the powerful Galactic Federation, the universal organization that keeps the galaxy and its planets under control. No war, no casualties, zilch, zip, nada.

However, on Opion, there was always a place around the bend. A shop? Check. A line of spacecraft dealerships? Even more check. What about a space bar though? Check too.

The most famous of all these space bars in Opion's cities was one called Gallasia Grano, an Italian name translating literally out to "galactic grub". Classy, right? Tens and tens of alien life all sat and clinked their glasses and plates of nourishment in here. Yet inside of this small bar, someone sat inside whom we're putting a spotlight on...

A multi-tentacled purple waiter, species Oplaan, wafted his way up to a hooded being. Surprise, surprise, with a simple mahogany sweater hood covering her hairstyle and her face, it was none other than our fair Yaiko. Oddly, one would never expect an 8-year-old like her to drink, but alas, there were non-alcoholic alternatives in these galaxies, correct?

"Ab chooka bal maru ba? Baku ba?" the waiter bubbled out of his own alien tongue.

Yai merely spat back. "Give me your finest Xilxia juice. Extra strong".

The alien waiter merely wiggled and jiggled away for a mere moment while the young Astral Jumper kept her thoughts to herself, her thoughts matching a television monitor with the news in the room...

"_All Galactic Federation controlled patrols, be advised to keep an eye on Auros planet Zurina. As of recently, a number of strange occurrences have rendered the vista city into ruins. The shambles and how they happened are unknown, but many have allegedly pointed fingers at the powerful Astral Jumpers in the Auros parts. Please, if you do have any whereabouts or information on who did this heinous act on Zurina, contact your local Galactic Federation operative."_

The Oplaan waiter came back and slapped a glass with a red liquid on the table.

"Babucha," he walked afterwards to his next customer as Yai left a few coins of Units on the table.

Yai instantly took to gulping down the red Xilxia Juice by the mouthful, like she was familiar with the beverage. She set down the glass half-full, but already she looked red in the face.

Now, the funny thing about Xilxia Juice... The beverage isn't alcoholic in the slightest, in fact, all it is is an alien mix of cherry soda and citrus extracts. But leave in the big factor: ALIEN.

Because of its alien origin, human beings who take a drink of Xilxia Juice come off as... well...

Yai belched obnoxiously and gave a few words that seemed to break many a perception on her- "I... guh... I shoulda known it was trouble when you came into this room, you..." she giggled following.

It seems the serious youngster you'd think would've mouthed off at you if you so didn't do what she said or would've been known for notorious thoughts just... up and left her mind.

Yes. Xilxia Juice on human beings makes them literally drunk. Not harmful or damaging to the human nervous system or brain, but inebriating in a non-alcoholic way.

Yai couldn't stop at one swig of the stuff though. Xilxia Juice was something Kyohaku Stitch got her into since their world jumping began. So she chugged the rest down, leaving but an empty glass behind.

The poor girl looked flushed red in the face more than before, literally driven silly by the red drink she had guzzled down. Guess you could say she couldn't hold her Xilxia?

"Man, Klaus... when did you come back from the dead and walk into here from out of nowhere looking..."

She hiccuped and finished her sentence after. "...hot..." Yai followed.

She had to have been seeing things so much so that her hood actually fell off her head, revealing the easily recognizable face and hairstyle that the galaxies around had learned to despise infamously. Not exactly the best place for that, being public.

"HEY! IT'S HER!"

One of the aliens cried, a crustacean-looking one and his blob-like partner stared her down, more and more of the various alien life joined in. A Quartexian. Puyolan. Even a Kweltikwan rogue to the area.

"That's one of those doggone Astral Jumpers! We just gonna let her use the Opion facilities so easily!?"

"NO! HECK TO THE NO!"

"I think she even stole one of my Units on the way in!"

"Ab chooa!?"

"You're not ruining things here, you monstrous human spawn!"

"Blubooblu!"

Yaiko instantly clocked into the fact she wasn't welcome here, even with the Xilxia Juice clouding her judgment. "And how 'bout tha- ...Oh," her voice jumping pitches higher after realizing who was staring at her. "...Mother!"

Instantly, a barside brawl unleashed as two brutes ran for her, as she ducked and bolted for the door, knocking a coin out of her sweater that flew right into a nearby jukebox. And as it flew in, the record locked in with a rockabilly jam that instantly started up with a chorus easily recognizable to the ears.

"_Well, a hard-headed woman! A soft-hearted man! Been the cause of trouble ever since the world began..."_

The Kweltikwan lunged for her, with the diminutive Astral Jumper leaping out of the way and causing the alien being to fling into a table nearby. Two other tiny terrestrials flung ink her way, and she dodged, splattering into plates of rather indescribable foods.

"I'll catch her and get the millions of Space Units as reward!" the crustacean cried as he swung at her and tripped up on a set of coasters flung his way.

"Does she even have a reward?!" another Kweltikwan yelled.

"OF COURSE! GAAAH!" the crustacean continued as more and more of the alien life inside began brawling against each other rather than chasing after the drunken Yai. It was as if the word chaos walked into a bar. Literally.

Eventually and after a lot of misses for the other extra-terrestrials, Yai ran out of the messy rockabilly bar fight that was out to capture Astral Jumper blood and called into the red jewel.

"Hey, Kyo- Mmgh! Kyohaku!? We need to get out of here! Buncha meanies are after us..." stopping to cover a belch that almost made Yaiko hurl.

From behind a spacecraft nearby, Kyohaku Stitch came out with a flip, looking at her red-faced condition. "Oh, naga takabah, Yai... Xilxia Juice!?"

"Hey, you be quiet... You- ...I'll have you know I spent those Units wisely..." she followed with yet another belch that was quite unusual for her. If class was in her name before, this was indeed the result of letting a Jumper get drunk on alcohol-free space drinks.

Kyohaku retorted "Ih, wise use of Units... now, we need to get out of here before tay and meega get slammed up in UGF prison! Naga going to clink!"

Yai chimed in and repeated what he said. "Yeah, naga going to... clink... Huuuh..."

Kyohaku Stitch grabbed Yai's punch-drunk hand and ran before anything worse could come to Galassia Grano or the blocks surrounding the Opion city.

He urged Yaiko. "Yai, quick, come up with a world as soon as possible, takka!"

Yai drunkenly thought of paradise and the words slipped right out... if they could be called words. "Uhh... what about Kama- kur- huh?"

"Kamakura! Genius choice, princess!" Kyohaku graced with a eager reply.

The other Jumper followed with a weak slap and her usual "_Don't_... call me... princess..." giggling and snorting to herself after saying such a thing.

After a quick few button taps and reconfiguring, Kyohaku Stitch opened his prototype claw into space to open a singularity elsewhere to where Yai had... well, "said" before, Kamakura.

Without even a word, Kyohaku Stitch said "Next time, naga any Xilxia Juice for you..." and leapt into the gateway.

Yai goofily yelled "Sayonara!" afterwards as the galactic portal vanished.

The two Astral Jumpers left disaster as they had known it, even learning never to trust Yaiko with a simple drink of red Xilxia. At least she didn't drop her Tri-Rune there. But the real question was Kamakura... why does that sound so familiar?

* * *

The day after the islanders' welcome seemed to be met with much hype from Yuna and Stitch, mainly 'cuz Yuna heard today was the day her Dad would give her the A-OK for their big Aguni Island trip. Yuna woke up that morning like usual, but albeit with a lot more... excitement.

"G'morning!" she chimed, leaping out of her usual conch shell adorned bed donning her usual pink nightdress, tiny ribbons at her shoulders.

Stitch did similar, but leapt from the couch, because the last time he slept with Yuna, her habit of sound sleep karate sent him tumbling...

Yuna slid open the door to her room and looked about left to right. Seems as though Obaa had left out. The smell of fresh onigiri wafted through the Kamihara household. "Naga anyone home?"

"Yeah, Gram's out unusually early today... Whatever, leaves us with some dee-lish onigiri," Yuna shrugged, pegging it off as a usual grocery run for the eldest woman.

After getting dressed into her usual outfit (the floral shirt and navy blue slacks she would always don) and grabbing a few onigiri for herself and Stitch (moreso for Stitch), the first thing she ran to was her Good Deed Memory, the blue wave themed device sitting on Yuna's table in her room.

Stitch, as curious as a mischief making alien would be, wanted into what Yuna was checking, but she just as quickly vaulted a hand over him, pushing him back as she tapped the usual buttons on the device.

A chime on the device and a pop-up later, Yuna's heart raced._ "You have 1 NEW message!"_ the device stated in kanji.

"Oh man! Don't tell me, it's-" she said as she raced to her inbox on the Memory!

And there it was, clear as day, DAD. He kept to his promise! Oh boy, oh boy!

"It's the moment of truth, Stitch! Aguni Island, here we come!" she yelled with joy as she opened up the message.

However, as soon as she read "Dear Yuna", that look of excitement changed quickly to a look of disappointment.

"_Dear Yuna,_

_I know you and I were supposed to go on a wonderful trip to Aguni soon. But Daddy's found some new species of seahorse off the course of Yonaguni nearby the undersea ruins there, a species that could make history. You know the place, the one that appears in all sorts of Okinawan textbooks? Anyways, I'm so sorry, sweetheart... I hope you can forgive me. Maybe next time, you can choose the place to go? Nonetheless, I only hope things are good for you and Stitch on the island. _

_Best wishes,_

_Love, Dad. 3"_

Yuna sat down after with a rather sad look on her face. Stitch, looking on as Yuna's grip on him faltered wondered what was up.

"Yuna?" Stitch asked.

"We're not going to Aguni... Dad's cancelled on us. Like always..." Yuna said bluntly.

"Aw, Yuna, naga say tha-"

"Naga say what? That Daddy never keeps his promises!? I'd love to lie and say no, but we've been planning this for a while and now he ups and leaves for some stinking seahorses!" Yuna buried her head in her arms after.

"Let's face it. My Dad loves his job over me, his own daughter..." Yuna sounded defeated. Guess Dad didn't keep his promise...

Stitch didn't know what to say after that. But as quickly as she was disappointed, Yuna stood up afterwards, her hands balled up into fists.

"Stitch? Do you know if Jumba's invented something for teleporting?" she said bluntly.

Stitch started up, he knew what Yuna was planning- "Aw, no, naga takabah, Yuna! Naga using Jumba's inventions to cheat way around disappointment! Issa naga good idea."

Yuna blurted back in an angry tone "I don't care! If Dad's just gonna cancel on me, why do I have to suffer for it? Jumba has to have something for us! He just has to!"

Stitch looked rather scared at this. Yuna was so mad at her Dad and the situation she hyped up so much that she was gonna actually use one of Jumba's inventions to cover her disappointment? Clearly she must not have been thinking straight!

* * *

Yuna kept marching along as Stitch did his best to try and stop her, her orange backpack at her back, gecko and water bottle at its side. Tugging on her arm, pulling her leg, anything to stop her from getting to Jumba's and making a decision she's probably going to regret as she made it halfway through Chitama Forest.

"Yuna, naga worry about it! Meega and tay can just have fun on island! Maybe yokai hunt? Fishing? Beach trip? Issa could laugh at meega's surfing wipe-outs! Or, or, Kijimunaa! He could help, akaba!" Stitch said, trying to crack the hard head of the young tomboy.

However, her angry look stayed as she walked, ignoring Stitch's pleas completely.

One more grapple at Yuna's leg Stitch tried, "C'mon, Yuna, just give it up!"

Yuna then snapped back and bumped Stitch off her leg with but a tomboy's anger, "Stitch, just stop it! Don't tell me you're not disappointed by this too, 'cuz you'd be lying!"

"Yuna, meega am! But naga need to just do something drastic just 'cuz ohana was naga there! Issa too little too late!" retorted Stitch.

Yuna simply shook her head and gave a firm "Hmph!" as she walked off, Stitch chasing her again.

Yuna's rage seemed to carry on well up to the patio of Jumba's up ahead. The tall traditional Japanese building sat with its log seats and table out in front. Nobody was nearby it either to add to it. Stitch just wouldn't quit as Yuna marched into the wooden interiors of the "evil genius" patio.

However, Stitch couldn't help but notice a letter tacked on the side of the entrance. "Ooo?" Stitch said grabbing it.

"_To little girl and 626,_

_Take 'evil genius' advice and please do not be toying around upstairs. Interstellar teleporter is on fritz and under electrical tinkering that needs to be done. Me and Pleakley are on run to Turo to gather some chemicals for new experiment of mine, so do not disturb!_

_Thanks, Jumba"_

Do not disturb, it read. Interstellar teleporter on the fritz, it read. And even worse, Yuna was headed for that lab of Jumba's.

Stitch's alien eyes widened. "YUNA!" he yelled, running upstairs.

Now, the insides of the lab were just as you'd expect from an alien scientist. Spark conductors near the window. A heart-shaped computer system. And in the corner, a teleporter of some type. And several other unfinished or tinkered-on projects and chemicals in the office made Jumba's laboratory.

Yuna looked about, plotting. "Now, if I were an invention to take us to a different place in the world, where would I be?"

Stitch dashed into the room. He gave a strong yell as he tackled Yuna down- "YUNA, NAGA TOUCH ANYTHING!"

However, they made a grave mistake in that push. Yuna and Stitch, upon landing were right on top of the teleporter's base and the cords leading to it.

Yuna jolted back at Stitch. "I've had enough of this game, Stitch! Sto- huh?"

Her ears, along with Stitch's picked up on a terrible noise. Crackling of some kind. Sparks also flew. And even moreso, the sound of something booting up.

Yuna's eyes shifted below to find the green base of Jumba's teleporter started up, as herself and Stitch began to levitate up into the air. Yuna jerked her head to Stitch- "Uhh, the teleporter shouldn't be acting like this, shouldn't it Stitch!?"

Her Experiment nodded- "This is exactly what meega was trying to prevent!"

Yuna and Stitch tried running out in their floating way, but their movements only looked to run in place rather than carry them forward, with Yuna flipping backward instead.

A few more crackles of electricity in Jumba's lab later jolted the control panel of the interstellar teleporter nearby, intercepting it with random co-ordinates and even moreso, seemingly overloading the panel.

Stitch looked shocked at the electrical malfunction- "Naga takabah!"

"You're telling me!" Yuna followed up.

A moment later, Yuna and Stitch's glowing forms began to glow white. Meaning they were about to be sent someplace...

Yuna yelled out as Stitch clinged onto her arm- "Jane, Jumba, anyone- stop this crazy thing!"

But it was too late. A second later, the tomboy and the mischievous alien vanished in a bright light, the machine powering down. An electrical phenomena had caused the interstellar teleporter in Jumba's lab to go haywire and take "little girl and 626" somewhere rather shakily.

Sometimes, a person's anger can take them to bad places and this was no different. The real question was just where would they end up? Could they be in the universe? Or could they have ended up somewhere else completely?

* * *

The feeling of cold concrete was what followed after the flash of light. A pair of brown eyes opened up to see the stone before her. Yuna woke up first, laid overtop of Stitch. Rubbing her eyes and stretching after the terrible tumble, she rose up with a groan.

"Ow... what trampled over us?" she said, as Stitch got up, his ears perking and him following in a similar suit as Yuna did.

Stitch asked- "Yuna, tay okitaka?"

Yuna giving a nod to say she was OK after the tumbling trip they had taken. "Yeah, I'm fine... but..." she sniffed. Where they landed smelt terribly of garbage, sewage and more.

"Ugh, guh-ross!" she said plugging her nose. "Wherever we landed sure stinks!"

Stitch smelt it too, covering his big nose as well with a vigorous nod. "Just where issa this place?"

Yuna and Stitch looked forward to find that this concrete place was actually an alleyway, a damp, smelly and gross alleyway, but one nonetheless. The skies' sun seemed shaded out from here, but farther off, the bright light of a sunny day lied ahead.

Yuna looked to Stitch and said with a rather nasally voice "Looks like there's a lot more light up ahead. We good for it?"

Stitch nodded and said "Anything's better than trash, ragga snabba..."

Yuna and Stitch quickly dashed out, holding their breath of the nasty smells of the alley. Any more and they probably would've hurled. Heck, anyone would've. Upon leaving the alley, the two let out slight gasps, breathing in some fresh air that wasn't tainted by the smell of complete trash.

"Ah... thank goodness for fresh air..." Yuna said.

However, after, Yuna jumped back with a yell, looking at the environments around.

Stitch looked at her with confusion. "Yuna? Tay okitaka?"

"Stitch, don't you have eyes!? It's right in front of us!" Yuna shouted. Stitch looked forward and his look matched the same shocker as Yuna's.

Right in front of them lied city streets. Cars did their usual dance, giant buildings and shops took far and wide and people waltzed to and fro from their locations.

But that wasn't what shocked Yuna and Stitch. Right in front of them was a myriad of posters, billboards and such featuring, get this, Stitch himself! Not just that, but several a storefront had figurines and plushies of many of Experiment 626's friends on display. Along with all the real-life referendum, your usual Coca-Cola sign or Sapporo sign, many a Japanese CD advert or fashion fliers, so forth, this city towered over our heroes.

This was what surprised Yuna and Stitch, because the mere thought of Stitch being THIS big someplace had to have been crazy. In fact, as crazy as reality.

Yuna swallowed her gawking expression and looked at her Good Deed Memory.

"M- Maybe my Memory'll be able to flash some light on this... wherever we are," Yuna stated with a tinge of unease.

She looked to find that her Good Deed Memory's GPS couldn't pinpoint where in the world they were, coming up with a picture of Yuna's head with a frown and a question mark.

Stitch looked on and caught this, "Naga sure?!"

Yuna gulped and looked up at the cityscape ahead of her. She realized, yes, it was her fault they got here, but at the same time, she stood in awe at this new place.

Stitch looked at Yuna with confusion and a raised brow of where they were, as all Yuna could muster was "Toto, I don't think we're in Izayoi anymore..."

Stitch nodded at her answer, then pointing at a sign nearby in kanji. "Actually, we're in Kamakura," Stitch said.

As Yuna looked at the sign's top half that stated the name in kanji, she gave a loud yet uncontrollable yell.

"WHAT!? WE'RE WHERE, STITCH!?"

They say a misunderstanding could take one to places they've never been, especially one with family, but this was a new example of that. Is it true that Yuna and Stitch ended up in Kamakura? If so, then how couldn't Yuna's Good Deed Memory detect it? And was this the result of that teleporter's mishap?


	3. KAMAKURA

**Chapter 3  
KAMAKURA**

* * *

Yuna stared with a twitching eye at the sign in front of her..._"Welcome to Kamakura"_ it said in kanji. Stitch had already told her a few seconds ago of their whereabouts. Up to this point, the two had been warped off via a series of unfortunate events that just so happened to involve Jumba's normal teleporter on Izayoi.

Now, they were in Kamakura. Though odd as it may, Yuna's Good Deed Memory couldn't pick up where they were despite knowing this...

Kamakura, or this Kamakura to clarify, was a big city. Normally it wasn't so, but in this place, it actually appeared so. Skyscrapers cut into the sunny skies like serrated blades, people bustled around this place in hoards and of course, there was many a manner of enterprise in this place.

Signs, billboards and even store displays all seemed to convey their usual product game of flashy clothing brands or names. Nike. MARVEL. Sapporo. Many a name covered this place, even the cloud and clutter of all sorts of audio. All this was mixed in with the old spiritual parks and even the calm with surfer coveted beaches in the flow.

To Stitch though, what made his face grin brighter than ever was one look at a store display nearby while Yuna was gawking at the sign still. That store wasn't the only one though. Everywhere in this city had this. The gleam of a certain blue alien's own face all over.

It was Stitch himself. In this place, _he _was embraced as an icon of sorts, not only him but the others from his past. Reuben. Lilo. Even Yuna herself. However, Stitch had to quit out of the greedy outlook of his name in lights and try and coax Yuna into getting a move on.

"Yuna? Tay've been staring at that sign for 5 minutes now... c'mon, we gotta get a move on..." Stitch said, hounding the hotheaded tomboy staring at the sign in this big city.

Yuna hounded back equally- "Stitch, move on where!? We're in some kinda quasi-futuristic Kamakura, what makes you think you know the way around?!"

"Well, maybe issa easier if we just hit the road and see... ih?"

Yuna wasn't particularly in good spirits, but just as she nodded and was about to agree and follow, a cough broke the city ambience that the two heard... along with a wave of other noise following. The two turned their heads to see just what was going on.

Standing before the two was a whole set of tens of other Kamakuran city folk. From kids to adults, to businessmen to beachgoers, all of them seemed to stare insanely at the two with bewildered and excited grins, scanning Yuna's wears, Stitch's ears and even the orange backpack propped onto Yuna's back with a fan's form of zealotism.

Lines like "Eep! It's them!", "Either that's a very impressive cosplay or that's the real thing..." and "CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPHS?!" were uttered out of this as the youngster and diminutive alien looked with confusion.

Yuna didn't quite know how to react to this, as didn't Stitch... Stitch knew that he was _big_ in this place. Yuna however, did not catch on. Yuna, being a leader of the moment, took the first step, putting on an anxious grin and waving to the masses.

"Uhh... hi?" she uttered to the crowd in front of her.

Undeniably, the entire mass of people roared in the screams that only a fanboy would make in the face of a celebrity. Though this didn't phase Yuna, she did grin somewhat unknowingly at the situation. Stitch though, decided to add to this, knowing his role in the city...

"KAMAKURA! Are tay ready to par-tay!?" he yelled. Stitch might've not known what he said at the time.

Because this rather risque cry from the Experiment seemed to cause the entirety of the mass of people to dash forward down this very street of Kamakura, about to tackle down their idols Yuna and Stitch in a fit of joy!

There was one thing Yuna and Stitch could do from this... run. And so they did after a twin set of yells escaped their mouths. The crowd chased the young karateka and her blue friend closely behind.

Yells came from the fans' mouths- "Hey, stop!", "Can't you slow down to read my fanfic, guys!?", "But I gotta have Yuna show me that kick of hers', it's AMAAAAZING!"- all things that showed how downright insane they were. So insane it was sickening, in fact.

Yuna and Stitch ran and ran with this unfaltering crowd behind them down the many twists and turns of the city, the stores and noise flying in their trail.

"Yeah, nice going, Stitch! You and your big mouth got us into this!" Yuna barked.

Stitch aggravatingly came back at her- "Well, meega had to appeal to my public somehow!"

"Your public? What do you mean, YOUR public?!" Yuna questioned...

Although, it seemed in the midst of the chase, that question was answered by the look of a Stitch and friends advert on a billboard nearby. She shook her head, taking in the crazy Stitch-ified sights and continued, finally getting an idea.

"Stitch!" Yuna said as Stitch turned while his dash of all fours continued.

"Ih?"

"On the count of three, we take a swift right turn into that alleyway up ahead, 'kay?"

Seemed as though Yuna caught wind of a slight turn inbetween a bakery shop and a pottery that could've made good use for them to evade their fanbratty captives.

Stitch caught on rather quickly, nodding and giving a hearty "Ih!" to follow.

"One..." Yuna started, looking back at the crazed crowd coming from behind, gaining fast.

As she continued to "Two...", she skidded her foot into turning as Stitch mirrored the same movement.

"THREE!" was her final call as she and Stitch gave a leap into the alley inbetween the shops as their safeguard from this Comic-Con cornering...

To their surprise, the plan worked perfectly. The crowd blazed ahead, still thinking that Yuna and Stitch had ran ahead towards the Kamakuran beach coasts up ahead.

Without a sweat, the two veered out of the alley, heads at a tilt to see the crowd all clamor ahead.

"Where'd they go!?", "I swear I saw them heading to the beach!", "Maybe Stitch can surf for me!" were all lines yelled by the bratty fans as they marched ahead, not noticing Yuna and Stitch breaking free of their chase.

Yuna spoke up after that mess- "Man, what was _that_ all about?"

Stitch piped up alike Yuna did. "Ih... meega like the attention, but this issa a little... _too _much. That was like Hall H on a good day..."

"And did that one person say something about a "fanfic"? Uhh... in what world'd this end up normal?" Yuna continued, a little weirded out about the idea of their adventures being like candy to these city folk.

Yet seemed as though their clamor hadn't ended there. A shadow was cast by a being at the front of the alley they had hidden on, something that caused the two's heads to turn and shout.

"Who's there?!"

"Gaba ika tasoopa!?"

Yuna and Stitch shouted in their different dialects, Yuna with an added karate kata to try and fend off whatever stood at their hideaway of the moment, her palm raised with a firm glare.

The shadow, however... was caused by something peculiar.

Standing before the two was something that they thought they would never see in a million years- another Experiment 626. While this one was darker of color and a little scruffy, it was in fact...

"Stitch!? Huh!?" Yuna and Stitch yelled, looking at one another in sheer amazement of the happening. Another 626? That couldn't be right...

This Stitch though, seemed scared from the yelling that spouted forward and backed against the wall.

"Ah... sokka, meega... didn't mean to scare tay..." this dark-blue Stitch rattled.

"No way... Stitch, were you always like that before? So... docile?" Yuna asked.

Yuna's own Stitch shook his head. "Naga, meega was naga a coward... or shy, naga my wave there. C'mon, tay should know that from heart, Yuna!" he quipped.

"Well, I knew that, it's just... weird to see that be a thing," she followed.

Then, a boy's voice cut in.

"Man, I lost him! I didn't wanna lose him the-"

A voice interrupted as the footsteps of a teenage boy, a slacker sort who looked rather savvy with the city walked towards Stitch, picking him up at the edge of the alley.

"Stitch, there you are... dude, don't run off without me like that, you worried me sick almost!" he coaxed to his own 626 in his arms, holding him like that of a homemade plush toy.

However, upon a single dart of his eyes through his orange glasses up, he met with one of the greatest surprises he had ever seen in his 13-year-old life...

"...You're... no way, NO! _YOU'RE_ YUNA AND STITCH!? Like... THE Yuna and Stitch!" the boy shouted in his excitement.

Yuna spoke up first- "Hold on, hold on... if you're like any of those fanboy freakshows out there, I'm clocking your lights out!"

She seemed about to take a kata and a yell that showed her aggressive karate side.

The teenage boy yelped with cowardice- "NO! NO! Don't hurt me, please... I... I'm just a _really_ big fan of you guys... that's all. I don't take it to that extreme... okay, maybe I do, but PLEASE!"

Yuna stopped, looking him in the eyes. "You... must not be like those other guys then?"

The boy looked up, giving a cool nod and a smile. "Nah, nah, that's not my style. Truth is, I just love you and your adventures. And Stitch too, he's one of my "idols" in life!"

Yuna's own 626 piped up after that- "But what about tay's copy of meega," a jerk of Kyo's head down to his own alien coming back up.

"He's... well, a recent addition to our "ohana". You know that word, yeah?"

The word "ohana" got immediate approval by Yuna and Stitch, the two nodding.

"Yeah, 'course we do! That's all Stitch's doing there!" Yuna said, walking forward.

"If you know us, then what's your name?"

He stated, sighing in a peaceful manner- "Kyozuki Yamada. You can call me Kyo though, dude... and dudette," he chuckled after the latter.

Kyozuki had been through a bit since our last check up on him. After a downright heck of a time trying to tame his Stitch, he succeeded. Now, Kyo takes his Stitch out into the city under the "disguise" of a Stitch plush toy, considering the Stitch-crazed Kamakura vista.

His own Stitch though, feral and cranky back when, had changed to be a shy yet kindred spirit, with a slight bit of feral attitude peaking in when need be. In short, the two had started on their merry "ohana" well... or so we'd think.

Yuna bowed, giving her name- "You probably already know this, but I'm Yuna... karate champion, tomboy and a bit of a softie at times."

She gave a laugh after, continuing- "Nice to meet you!"

Stitch, giving a clear "ahem" as day, tried bowing to introduce himself, but fell flat on his head, doing a handstand of sorts. Truth is, he never quite got used to bowing, even with Yuna's teachings.

Chuckling at his failure, he started "And meega's Stitch... ooh, best one yet, meega think," landing on his feet afterwards.

Kyo chuckled at the two. "Well, I'm thrilled to finally meet you two... I was just heading back from a grocery run for my Uncle, why are you two stuck here in a trash-covered alley?" Kyo said.

Yuna looked up, looking rather disappointingly at him- "Well, truth be told, this is the only place where we can hide without those dirty fans trying to get us..."

"You mean to tell me you guys have no place to stay?" Yuna shook her head "no" at Kyo's comment, sighing.

Kyo smiled and offered "Hey, chin up, dudette... why don't I sneak you over to my place? You two can stay there for as long as you're here, free of charge!"

Yuna beamed- "Really? You sure you wanna have me and Stitch stay there, I mean, we don't wanna impose any!"

Kyo nodded and waved, as his Stitch grumbled in his arm- "Who's imposing, guys? It's just me, my Stitch and my Uncle there, nobody else. And my Uncle'll probably dig y'all being around too! Come along... I know a shortcut from the alleys to my house..."

Stitch nodded and grinned mischievously at this opportunity, walking ahead down the alley following Kyozuki and his Stitch's direction through the dank passage.

Yuna though, more cautiously spoke up- "But wait, where's your house, Kyo?"

Kyo looked back and said "Just down near the beach. I know you're a little wary because of all those fanboy dudes that may have given you a run for your money, but trust me... I know the way and none of them involve going back into the streets," adding a smile as he walked.

Yuna didn't have any further objections. Someone new just walked in and gave them a place to stay after her mess of bringing herself and Stitch here. And from the looks of it, someone with the same understanding of "ohana" as her. She smiled and ran forward, joining the gang as they walked.

"Well then, haisai, let's go!" she cheerfully remarked with a usual catchphrase involving a common Okinawan phrase, before looking up to Kyo.

She then said- "Kyo... thanks. You really helped us out here, you know?" as she gave a smile, him returning the favor.

"Man, to think that some hubbub about Yuna and Stitch being in town actually led me to the actual shreddin' thing!" Kyo laughed.

However, his curiosity got the better with one final question on their march back to Kyo's Uncle's house on the reach of Kamakura- "Hey though... just where did you two come riding in from?"

Yuna chuckled and left it with a simple answer- "Long story, Kyo... we'll tell ya later, 'kay?"

So, it appeared that while Kamakura wasn't quite safe for them as of yet, Yuna and Stitch found some new friends in Kyo and his very own Stitch too, and not only that, but refuge too. If "ohana" included people from another place (and it should), this means that Yuna's own "ohana" grew with these two bonding.

The teen and the tomboy continued on their merry way, their aliens at their sides... Although, the real question was what in the world was going on back at home on Izayoi?

* * *

While certain people were getting acquainted over in Kamakura, there appeared to be another case of this on Izayoi Island elsewhere. After the rocky event that welcomed three new islanders in seemed... well, overblown in a word, things had been relatively peaceful since, the new people moving in without a hitch.

One of such people was Jessica. Being the richest of most students of Okinawa New Town's class, she moved here equally. As it turns out, one of the reasons her father moved them here in the first place was in part due to Penny's Dad, the Mayor of Chitama Town and operator of several pineapple facilities. Knowing this, Jessica's family, the Ninkis, moved into a manor nearby that of the Painapps or Penny's family.

Since it was a day after, Jessica was wandering around Izayoi trying to figure out what there even was to do on such a boring yet clashing and coincidentally beautiful island. Jessica sighed. "You know, this place could use a little more than just historic landmarks or palm trees to really get go-"

She was interrupted by someone bumping into her, someone rather... diminutive. One could tell from her squawky voice who it was. Then again, anyone would've been able to tell.

"Watch where you're walking there, missy! If I catch you walking like that again, I'll have you made into pineapple jam and-!"

Turns out it was Penny, running her mouth of again until she realized just who it was standing in front of her.

"Umm... pardon me?" Jessica said, her maribelle tone coming around.

Penny gasped and bowed- "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run my mouth off in front of you... you're that new girl, Jessica, right? The one my Daddy gave the manor next door to?"

Jessica seemed far too bewildered to make a response, and nodded.

Penny, flicking her gorgeous blonde hair around, looked up at her.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself to you then... my name's Penny of the rich family Painapp! Also known as richest girl of the island and "princess of pink". Some people tend to look at me as a primadonna of the island" Penny said, finishing off with an attractive grin only accented by the lipstick on her person.

Jessica seemed quite similar in the sense that her and Penny seemed very much alike.

With a flick of a wrist through her luxurious caramel hair, she started- "Well, my name is Jessica, last name Ninki. Most popular of class back in New Town and new here on this island because... well... my daddy wanted to. I begged and pleaded him not to though!" she said, her beautiful speech turning more into a sob story later on.

Penny looked on with a simply sneery chuckle. "Hah! I guess that's why you reminded me of someone... Me. Anyways, the way you were wandering around the island seemed to catch my eye..."

Jessica perked her head at this. "Oh? Do go on then, Penny..." she insisted.

"Well, ever since you came to this island, I couldn't help but notice you'd fit in like a glove in our little group. You see, I often travel in a clique with my brother and his bozo friends and I figured, what's one more person to add to our quad set here? We could make it a... uhh... quint set, quin... whatever, there'd be five of us, got it?" Penny made her claim known to the world and this was fact.

Penny always bossed around her brother Kenny and his own friends Taka and Masa. They had a clique going on, with the three boys often being used to further help Penny's goals... no matter how fiendish or greedy they were to others, even themselves.

Jessica gave a simple smile, or at least a simple one that a bully girl could have at this moment.

"Well, I admire the offer and I'll graciously accept. Considering we're next door neighbors now? This'd make things a cinch between the both of us_ and_ also give me a set of friends to call my own."

You could tell how interested she was in taking people a step down below her.

"Perfect then!" Penny said, shaking hands with Jessica.

"Welcome! Oh and don't worry... you won't get the bossing end of the stick with me. I only reserve that for my big brother."

Penny then brought up another curious question. "By the way, just off the top of my head, have you ever seen this girl around the island... tan skin, big head, wears lousy clothes, has hair that looks like someone stacked pineapples into her hair... badly?"

Jessica merely shook her head at this without a word. It was obvious who this was pointing to out of the islanders.

This seemed to please Penny, as she grinned with dastardly intent.

"Good, good... I'll tell you about her later. Now, why don't you come along? I was actually heading somewhere to relax today and I want you to join me," Penny said, waving her new friend Jessica forward down the isle's dirt trail.

Jessica looked curiously- "Uhh... where to, Penny? You certainly know this island better than me."

Penny, giving a smirk, looks back to Jessica and her rather curious expression.

"Well, Jessica, since you're friends with me, you're gonna be be getting in on some VIP stuff, courtesy of yours truly. Now, where was I going? Well, I was gonna head down to the Izayoi Grand Hotel and relax in the pool there... solo," she stopped a moment, smirking to the taller girl.

"Then you came along and now we can both go pool lounging! My Daddy owns the place, so he can let us use for our own use, no matter who's there. He can just kick them out, if anyone! Not to mention, you're next door to us with your rich father, so... this'll make ends meet here!" Penny said, finishing her explanation with a sneaky laugh.

Jessica couldn't help but feel honored. The use of a pool? Without _any_ people around thanks to Penny? She couldn't help but smirk a smile unlike any other.

"Alright then, Penny, you've got yourself a deal! Let's stop by our manors and then you lead the way. After all, I'm no rolling stone!" Jessica ended off with a laugh...

...Only to have a tumbleweed fumble right by the two debutantes. Penny looked unenthusiastic about Jessica's pun as the started walking back to their manors.

"Really? Okay, if you're gonna be hanging around us, we gotta make that pun thing going, going, gone..." Penny uttered.

Jessica looked away and said "Well, it was funnier in my head..." as the two girls walked.

From this meeting, the two bully girls seemed to make a bigger alliance than ever before. What would Kenny and the others think? We'll leave that up in the air...

However, this wasn't the only happening on the island. Aside from the bullies' doings, the pitter patter of shoes came about as Sae ran ahead, looking rather distressed down a path near and dear to Chitama Town nearby. She skidded to a stop after, seeing someone ahead- Taro.

"Sae? Geez, you're in a rush... What's wrong?" Taro asked the young fashionista of a girl.

Out of breath and brushing the dust that coveted her outfit, Sasha started- "Taro, have you seen Yuna anywhere? I went... I went by her house earlier and the place was bare... Haven't seen Obaa around town either, so I couldn't ask her... Oh my gosh, next time I should leave the running to her... Ah..."

Upon hearing this news, Taro merely shook his head. "No, I didn't... I thought she was going to the Aguni Island though?"

Sae thought to herself again- "I thought so too, but... but..." starting to get worried for her.

Taro, usually the worrisome one in this case, decided to step up. "Sasha, c'mon... you're saying this as if she vanished off the island without a trace... give it a bit of time, she'll be okay... she always does, yeah?"

Sae nodded, giving a sigh to calm herself. "...You're right, Taro. Sorry, I... I'm just worried should something happen to her. Ichariba Chodei, right?"

"Hey, I am too, but we shouldn't be worrywarts. Yuna taught me that a while ago... even if I do end up feeding that habit sometimes, but still! If my sensei taught me it, it's bound to be right... Now, why don't we go check up with the newbies, Yoko and Jenna?" Taro explained.

Sae walked off with a nod, a bit of her glee returning to her- "Right, hopefully their first night went well."

Taro though, looked off seeing the sun touch the waters afar leading to other islands. This daze of his had him thinking of someone close to him. _"I... I wonder if she's... OK..."_ he thought to himself, blushing.

Sae called from afar again- "Hey, Taro! C'mon, you gave me the idea! Aren't you coming?"

Taro broke out of his blushing stupor and ran forward. "Uhh-! COMING!" he yelled, now properly walking, or in his case, running- down one of the trails on the island to Chitama Town.

While they hadn't a clue what Yuna was up to or where she was, one has to wonder just whom was Taro thinking of for that one distinct moment?

* * *

Meanwhile, our group of Stitches and humans had made it to Kyozuki's home. Located down nearby the beach area of Kamakura, it was on a hillside of a road. A wood exterior helped make it stand out among the other houses on the street. Nobody had spotted the four on their way back through the back door of the place, but it was the inside that counted.

Inside, it was nice and lavish for a small Kamakuran home, especially one not expensive in any grade, coming in with most of the basics. Uncle Haka wasn't home from his assume-to-be job yet, so Yuna, Kyo and the others had snuck in with relative ease. Yuna also seemed to ask about why Kyo only lived with his Uncle, but it seemed as though the teen didn't seem ready to answer that just yet. Keyword- just yet.

Kyo's room was a very unique sort. While it contained much the same wooden look as the rest of the house, his room had posters of musicians one would've probably never heard of on his wall, in addition to a poster of Lilo, Yuna, Stitch and several other characters on his wall, much akin to his Stitch obsession before... well, getting his own 626. He also had a prodigious computer nearby, with a homemade hanger on the wall for his Sony headphones he always kept on his person, bar whenever surfing. There was also his pride and joy, his Stitch blue surfboard, hanging up against the wall near the door, an ease of convenience.

"So!" Kyo said, looking at the pair of Yuna and the Izayoi Islander Stitch standing quite uniquely.

"You wanna stand out in Kamakura, don't you? Without being seen by the dudes and dudettes that stroll the city wake?"

Yuna nodded with ease- "Yep! Tell me your ways, oh wise surfing maestro of the city!" her own Stitch mimicking her nod with one similar.

With Kyo's Stitch sitting nearby on the bed nearby, the group was planning a new look for Yuna, because as it stood, if they were spotted looking natural as they were, they'd be mauled by wild Kamakuran Stitch fans. Kyo pointed at his closet against the wall.

"Well, lemme help. In this closet, I've tons of clothes I had left from years ago in my dude-hood."

Yuna looked in confusion at Kyo's term of "dude-hood". "Dude-hood? You don't mean childhood, do ya?" she snickered afterwards.

"Well, I had to scrounge up some kinda colorful term to use, didn't I, dudette?" Kyo said dryly.

Yuna opened the closet doors only to look around in the pile of left clothes. While they were boys' clothes, as a tomboy, she could have cared less about what she wore. Heck, most of what she wore was breaking away from her gender in a way.

The pile housed many wears, shirts with fire designs, Disney-laden clothes, even the occasional "Hidden Mickey", but she picked up a few odd ones and took her backpack in hand as she did.

"Alright, I think I've got what I need, gimme a sec..." Yuna said, as she closed the door.

After a moment of Kyo whistling some techno beat he had in his headphones over his ears, Yuna stepped out to the three in Kyo's room... and all that was heard was snickering.

"Yuna, I... I don't think Kamakurans dress like that..." Kyo muttered, holding back his laughter...

Yuna stood dressed in an odd choice of clothes. First off, a tiedye shirt that mixed the colors of pinks, yellow and blues garnished her top. A pair of plain blue shorts also were among, alongside a pair of magenta sandals. She also seemed to wear her swimsuit underneath of her clothes, as her usual red and yellow bikini top's bow was seen hanging and tied around her neck.

The coup de grace of this attire though was a cap that stood atop her head, striped and blue, with bubbles adorning the design. However, her hair still stood out clear as day, the pigtails people would've been able to tell a mile away.

Yuna looked in odd way at the others, at their snickering- "What's so funny? I thought Kamakurans wear stuff like this!"

Kyo and the Stitches burst into laughter afterwards, they couldn't hold it back anymore. "Haha, Yuna looks like a hippie! Naga takabah!" Stitch cackled loudly.

Yuna instantly jolted up by this- "W- What!? Whaddaya mean I-?" as she caught herself in Kyo's mirror nearby his computer table.

Looking at her, she started snickering too. "Okay, I see where you're coming from... Mmhmhm!" she managed out of her comedic fit.

Kyo stopped his laughing at Yuna's expense for a moment, walking near her. From this, you could tell how tall Yuna was compared to the teen Kyo, as she reached up past his shoulders.

"Well, the clothes you got... the swimsuit's a bit much, but that's your one and only set of beachwear if my years of watching your adventures isn't off," Kyo stated.

Yuna looked at him after that- "Uhh... yeah, my Gram's not really a quantity worker, you know? More a quality one!"

"Guess we could just say that's a reproduction of your usual swim things someone made for you, but then again, we may not even need to do that... Anyways, right, the tiedye shirt and the shorts... they're good. Sandals? Perfect too, dudette! Now..." Kyo's eyes scanned up and down Yuna's person of what she was wearing, thinking.

Immediately his hands went right to Yuna's pigtails.

Grabbing them, Yuna already gave disapproval, a bit of a fuss following- "Hey, hey! What's the big idea messing with my hair, Kyo!?"

"Gimme a sec, Yuna..." Kyo said as he managed to shutter the tails down into a collective set below her head, brushing them into place with her hands as Kyo let go.

"Okay, what'd you do, Kyo?" Yuna demanded, as Kyo merely pointed to the mirror again.

Yuna looked on, noticing her pigtails were behind her head as opposed to up, the bubbly hat of hers propping them down proper. She then smiled and gave a nod, as she liked the handiwork Kyo managed to do with them.

"Huh... Spiffy, Kyozuki! Back tails over front tails! I like!" she stated with a grin. While the final look didn't change much in the clothing angle, it did give her a slight modification to her hairstyle not so easily read by other Kamakurans.

"So, guess you've got your wears... Stitch, what about you? You gonna get disguised up as a dude? Considering you had one back in Hawaiian days, it might be no surprise here..." Kyo asked. The Izayoi Island version of Stitch, getting up, began to put on things lying around.

First off, a tuque that had a striped red and black design on it. He followed that with a leather jacket that seemed far too small for Yuna or Kyo to wear, but small enough for him to wear along with a yellow T-shirt.

Then, he put on a set of beige shorts below his lower half, covered already by his usual orange and hibiscus peach swimtrunks he had snuck on, a staple Sae actually found for him back on the island that Yuna always packed with him in mind, among other things in her backpack.

Once everything came together, Stitch looked like some punk musician that came in off the streets. One that screamed "heavy rock".

Yuna and Kyo both looked on with a smile, Yuna giving a whistle at how impressive the getup was.

"Gotta say, Stitch here _knows_ his disguise game..." Kyo muttered, with a nod from Yuna to agree.

Meanwhile, Kyo's Stitch looked at him, tilting his head. "Meega use clothes?" he asked.

Kyo shook his head- "No, no, no- Yuna's Stitch is more the type to don threads, not you dude. In fact, last time I did- you clawed 'em up. That said, you're always gonna be au naturale... if that makes sense!"

"Now, with both your disguises set... you guys need names. Like... Kamakuran names, man. Any ideas?" Kyo asked the two in front of him, his Stitch still sitting on his bed a bit away.

Yuna thought for a moment- "Hmm... how 'bout Flo? That sounds Kamakuran, don't it?"

Kyo beamed at the name with but a mellow grin as he began to compare- "Flo? Hmm... Kyo... Flo. Kyo... Flo. A solid name! Good choice then, Yuna!"

Yuna had to think, as Flo, she could've been a lot more in-your-face with the style of the city... that is if she already wasn't in-your-face to begin with due to her tomboy's attitude.

Kyo continued- "How's about you, Stitch? Or rather..._ her_ Stitch?"

Stitch had to think a bit before landing a name that suited someone like... well, Stitch.

He then got it- "Okitaka, okitaka! How 'bout Joker? Fits meega, ih?"

Joker. The name hit Yuna and Kyozuki's heads and clicked, it fit the Experiment's sensationally well known mischief-making habits.

Yuna snapped her fingers and said "Great then! From here on in, we are Flo and Joker!" giving a positive nod after.

Kyo then smirked- "Alrighty then! From now on, those are _your_ threads to keep, dude and dudette. Take good care of 'em!"

Yuna replied with a grin- "Wow, really? I get to keep the bubble hat too? Sweet!"

At the same time, Stitch was amped from the news. "Meega getting my own leather!? Oh beautifa, ring meega up with that!"

Their happiness was cut down though. While they had the glee from Kyo's contribution to their ongoing wardrobes done, a loud screech seemed to cut into the room, affecting all sorts of technology around the house, not just in Kyo's room. The screens on televisions, microwaves, coffee pots and even Kyo's own Disney Mobile phone seemed to flicker and phase by this almost foreign screech.

Everyone had to cover their ears from how deafening the noise was and even more, it wasn't just affecting Kyo's- oh no... it was affecting the entire city of Kamakura.

"Man... spoke too soon about being "sweet"! What the heck's that noise!?" Yuna shouted over the static noise that was being echoed.

Kyo followed up on that as the Stitches pulled their ears around themselves to try and cut that noise out- "I don't know, but this definitely isn't anything I vetoed to listen to!"

Looking at Kyo's phone (as it was the among the Earth devices affected by this purge), the group looked to see a slender yet completely jilted figure with a large spire-like head appear to the fuzzy screen while the noise finally cut down, the small noise of TV static still remaining. This disfigured figure went on...

"_Greetings citizens of your fellow Earth city... Something we've been keeping a fellow eye on has crashlanded into your area. A certain Experiment 626. Now what I ask is simple... I ask for you to deliver this genetic "mad scientist" abomination to me when we land prior to this. Forfeit this creature... and your precious planet will be spared. If you do not... then we will come and we will destroy each and every square inch of your area. You don't know what power we have to do this... but just remember and lest you never forget... we'll be watching you..."_

After that, the entirety of Earth's devices and the noise seemed to quell back to the usual surroundings, even that of the Kamakuran city outside. The gang stood baffled as to what might have just happened.

"Did... whoever that was just ask for Stitch?" Kyo said, his tone mixed up.

Yuna nodded with a simple "Uh-huh", as she was just as confused.

Kyo's Stitch growled, as if he had seen that being before... but alas, what with crashlanding on Earth, his memory was still a little shaky.

"Okay, okay, y'all calm down... that may've just been some on-air prankster trying to fool us all. Or maybe it's aliens Stitch knows, but for now, that loud racket is over with..." Kyo said, trying to at least quell the situation.

"For how long though is the question..." Yuna asked, gripping one her hands into a fist, maintaining her tough attitude.

Luckily, there was something to deride the thought of an evildoer lurking someplace and somewhere.

Afar, the sound of a door opened up near the front of the house, with a familiar voice calling to Kyo- "Hey Kyo! I'm home! You around the house, dude?"

This sparked a panic with the teenager, him dashing in place- "AHH! Uhh, yeah, Uncle Haka, I'm home, but uhh, can you give me a sec!?" His panic also motioned for Yuna and Stitch to move too, as they started up in a similar panic.

The character only wittily chimed back- "Okay, a sec, now here I come...", he chuckled.

An olden figure wearing a muscle shirt, a straw hat and a pair of blue shorts looked into the room to see an awkward sight. Both Stitches were pushing at Kyo's legs. Yuna's sandal covered foot was being held onto by Kyo, dragging her leg with it. It looked as though Kyozuki was going to try and cram Yuna under the bed in a hiding attempt.

And Kyo had only one thing to say about the situation- "Uhh, hey there, Uncle... how's it hanging?"

Uncle Haka looked on with a small pint of oddity. Until his usual grin took over.

"Kyozuki, you didn't tell me we had company over!" Uncle said as he chuckled.

"Especially famous company! I see twin sets of your idol Experiment 626! Oh yeah and his friend Yuna too, right?"

The team could not believe it. The eldest called Yuna and Stitch out easily, as all stared speechless.

"Uhh... how did you know it was us so easily? Are our disguises _that_ easy to read?" Yuna piped up.

Haka shook his head again. "Oh, no, no, dear! Your outfits are top notch, Kyo definitely pitched in his five cents! It's just that... well... an Uncle knows these things! Anyways, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want! I can go set up an extra bed for you guys in Kyo's. Easy since we have the mattresses!"

Haka walked off down into the kitchen area, as the group stood.

"Guess issa... what Kyo calls "easy breezy", ih?" Kyo's Stitch piped up. With that, the group all nodded.

"An Uncle knows these things... he _always _says that..." Kyo said, still baffled by Haka's intuition.

As it seemed, Yuna was allowed to just be herself around the house, her own clothes and look and everything! Outside though, she and Stitch were to be known as Flo and Joker. A good plan, but just how was the parlor trick going to work out in Kamakura, one would ask? Time will tell...

* * *

What time didn't tell was that elsewhere in Kamakura, the city's busy lights and sights seemed to foretell another coming in out of the blue. It was just after the harbor's usual flash-mob, a thing that wasn't particularly supported by a detective of the law in the city. But that's another story for a little later. For now, the rooftops of the city's skyscrapers housed an occurrence.

The top of a building lodged in the dock's area soon had its peace and quiet challenged.

A portal almost like a hole in space itself began to open up, as two very well-known figures stepped out, it dissipating behind them. Ones we would know well. The Astral Jumpers, Yai and Kyohaku Stitch. On the bright side, this time Yai wasn't punch-drunk on Xilxia, but with her very off beat mind, anything would've set her off...

"Well, well... seems like we've hit an Earth city this time..." Yai said with a dry tone.

Kyohaku Stitch seemed to mutter after- "It was your idea, princess... naga remember? Tay said Kamakura, meega took us..."

Yai looked back with a simple glare, not only caused by Kyohaku's mention of the nickname she hated so much, but by his very tone for that moment. "Well, I didn't ask to come here... even if I was inebriated at the time."

Yai stared out at how the lights touched the ocean water near the harbor. Her golden eyes seemed reminded of something of a memory, and with her and Kyohaku's praddling on, not just now, but also alot of the other times they travelled together seemed to harken one of the oddest things to recall. We were about to learn something out of this mysterious girl from the looks of her.

"Kyohaku? ...Do you remember the first time we met? I personally don't wish to remember it, but... you probably know why," Yai said, closing her eyes, holding back something that seemed to give the young flaxen girl's mind a fair amount of painful recollection.

Kyohaku Stitch nodded. "Ih, but why bringing that up? Meega thought tay naga wanted to revisit that?" he asked.

Yai looked away at the lights painting the Kamakuran sea its many colors and started coldly- "I don't and I really have no reason... But how could I forget?"

With that, Yaiko closed her eyes...

* * *

Colony A-113. Back when, it was a project ran by the Galactic Federation to try and uphold and maintain life over planet Opion in the Auros system without use of segregation or division. People could live in peace in these colonies.

The colony, a cylinder-like craft contained matters of nature and several housing quarters for the many people aboard. There were even shops and a school for the younger children. The creation of technology known as Cosmos Cards also helped advance these planned colonies further.

Yaiko lived peacefully there with parents that were vaguely in her memory. Although she was lonely at the time, she was a much different girl compared to present day. She wasn't a sought after criminal. At 5-years-old, she was a girl who bluntly knew her place yet played her cards soundly. Her hair wasn't solidly locked into long yet thick ponytails.

Back in those days, that freckled face of hers stared at the world a different way, her flaxen hair let free upon her person. And yes, that speck of hair was still there too. She housed many a crush towards a certain boy named Klaus and while not many liked her company due to how crabby she got, she did enjoy living on the colony...

That was until the one day A-113 was threatened. The day that the Leroys attacked. As it may be no doubt aware, Leroys, known as a doppelganger of Experiment 626 created to never be persuaded to good via a forced hand, were extinguished in a big fray involving Experiment kind on Hawaii... or so we had assumed.

On that day, everything had changed. The once peaceful communes of the colony soon met themselves with hell awakened. Fires ravaged as these red beasts flew from right to left, led by a much more powerful source. Whom though remained to be seen.

Yaiko, dressed in a white yet well-kept dress, ran and ran through the madness. The blaze and the chaos abound scared her to tears. She'd lived in peace up this point and there was no way out of the fires. However, her luck wasn't in her favor that day...

Her golden eyes met face to face with a Leroy staring her down savagely while the fires and devastation occurred. While she remained frozen as its multi-armed guise approached, she realized she had to run. Yai dashed, but she didn't get far as she tripped off of a rock nearby, leaving an extremely frightened girl in the hands of a red abomination. He raised his claws as the young girl had nowhere to run to, no time to get up to try and evade her fate. Yaiko screamed the loudest she ever could in her life. And all that was heard was the sound of what sounded like something cleaving flesh...

Minutes passed after and the devastation around the quite futuristic colony got progressively worse due to the Leroy scourge. But even moreso was Yai.

On her right shoulder was a large collective wash of red. She wished she could have yelled, but with the blood on her back welling out, she wasn't able. She felt defeated as the pain seared, tears at her eyes as the pain didn't let up. It was like she was going to bleed out here on this day with no one around to help her...

However, while she wasn't lucky enough to have that gash on her back averted, she was lucky enough to have help. An older boy with set of yellow spiky hair ran up to Yai, his hair caught in a headband with a lightning design. He wore a white set of shorts and a shirt that bore a gradient from black to white below. Yai only knew this as one boy she knew and loved- Klaus.

"Yai! Oh God... you're bleeding out!" Klaus said with a state of shock.

Yai mustered a few words in her weak state- "Just... leave me, Klaus. If I have to die like this... I will..."

Young Yaiko seemed about ready to give up. Klaus though, wasn't going to have that, as he ran off into a shop and carried out some medical gauze. It would've been classed as stealing if not for the current chaos that was happening aboard A-113.

Knowing time was of the essence, Klaus picked the pale girl up and wrapped the gauze around the big X-shaped and bloodied mark on her back, fitting it securely around as he carried her body forth towards a section of escape pods that were laden near the end of the community.

Yai coughed- "Klaus... I thought I said to-", her voice interrupting by a fit of more coughing.

Klaus spoke up with a reassuring smile- "Don't worry about it, Yaiko... you're safe now..."

Yai again, tried to talk. "You don't need to save me at all... Why are you doing this instead of saving yourself, Klaus?"

Klaus looked convincingly at Yai.

"Because you're the most important thing on this colony. And you need to be saved. I'm... sorry," he hesitated.

Yai asked- "Why are you sorry," the pain on her back still not letting up.

Klaus then did something rather unexpected. He headbutted the young girl, knocking her out unconscious so she couldn't say a word or object any further. Her head drooped down as Klaus decided to carry her to the only working escape pod left in the colony that wasn't effectively damaged by the Leroy swarm as it stood nearby.

Setting her in and closing the pod's flap of a door, as well as programming the co-ordinates, he stood back, standing with a solemn smile.

The pod quickly burst off into the synthetic skies above, carrying Yai away from the rising hellfire that became A-113. Klaus muttered something in his salute as he ran off, his duties done in saving the one person that mattered.

"_Long Live the ..."_

Where was the pod headed? It was programmed for a desolate section of Opion... the Akostas Junkyard.

And then, as the pod escaped into the space surrounding Opion's atmosphere.. silence fell across the colony. And all that was left was a catastrophic supernova.

* * *

Hours had passed beyond that nightmare and Yai was finally waking up, realizing the surroundings of a pod around her.

User-friendly controls and touchpads seemed to pop up along with a window on the cockpit that said _"Warning! Front lobe has crashed! Please check your UGF Manual in order to proceed!"_

The furious pain on her back hadn't let up, but one of her hands touched back to feel that her injury had been covered up by layers of gauze.

Realizing that Klaus actually did the deed, she blushed a bit before stepping out of the craft, albeit slowly as to not agitate her X-shaped wound on her back. Her white dress seemed stained with the color of red from the assault on A-113.

She looked to find a junkyard around full of spacecraft parts and other intergalactic paraphernalia, recalling this as the planet Opion, or rather a reclusive section of the planet to clarify.

More curious than that, however, was also a figure standing out in the distance, looking to have guarded the pod. A diminutive alien figure with a spiky hairdo and a misleading UGF uniform on his person. However, he was not so, as he was something called a Variated Experiment, a modified doppel of a heroic Experiment, albeit different. There was a story behind these Experiments, but now isn't the time to tell them.

He spoke up. "Tay's finally awake, princess... enjoy your nap?" he said with smug detail.

Yai looked on, still naively confused by the whole thing. "Who... are you?" she asked.

"Kyohaku Stitch... meega's a bounty hunter. That's all tay need to know. And all tay naga need to know is behind you..."

He hinted not to look behind Yaiko... but being rather curious, she looked behind only to find something that smashed her heart to pieces in the skies above.

Right at the orbit of Opion and at the corner of her eyes, burst aflame into pieces was her home. Colony A-113. Everyone she knew, everyone she loved or cared for was in there. And now, nothing could've been done to save them.

What happened was the Leroys that attacked the place not only devastated everything in their way, but destroyed the plasmatroid battery that powered the station's core. With that gone, it triggered a supernova that completely eradicated everything.

Yai stood speechless, her emotions hit a peak. She felt as horrified and destroyed as the colony she had called home now as. Tears started to roll down the girl's face. And there was only one thing she called out to the heavens above.

"NO! My- my home, I- I gotta go back up there, my life was up there! No, no... " she burst, her tears pouring out of her very being.

She tripped on junk and fell to her knees, the sadness hitting the girl as hard as ever. All she could do now was sit and weep her losses. The tears fell out in memorial for what she held dear- her friends, her family and even Klaus, all gone in a single super-heated explosion caused by a swarm of red abominations.

All she could really mutter was the repeated word of "no" in her tears for A-113... if not for the fact that Kyohaku was still there.

"Aww, boo-hoo... tay's home is long gone now. Been like that plasma mess for a good hour or two," Kyohaku stated coldly to the girl.

She looked up, giving just as equal an expression. "You say that as if it meant _nothing _to me. THAT COLONY WAS MY LIFE! AND NOW IT'S UP IN FLAMES! And you have the audacity to say... "BOO-HOO"!? How dare you!" she snapped angrily.

Obviously her sadness hadn't passed, but she was ready to fight this Kyohaku character just for the sheer fact he was being such a heartless person.

Kyohaku Stitch merely smirked at her flash of anger and was about to walk off.

Yai sounded desperate- "Wait, where- where are you going!?"

"Elsewhere. Meega got bigger fish to fry..."

"You can't just leave me here! I've got nowhere to go and I'm an orphan now, I can't be shoved aside and left behind like this!"

Kyohaku took one look at Yai yelling these words. The girl was scared. Hurt. Alone. Now even more than ever now that A-113 had been destroyed.

"...And why should tay come with me? Meega naga want tay holding me back, how 'bout that?!" Kyohaku's tone seemed clear.

"I can help... I don't care in what way possible, I can help you..."

Yaiko made it quite clear. As she had no place to call home and nothing in her heart to care for now, she had to fill that void.

Kyohaku merely chipped back at the girl- "Ask tay... what would tay do to help me? And who left you like this, hmm?"

It was at that moment something snapped in the young girl. That look of wonder in her eyes was gone now. It was as if she grew up in seconds.

A cold look of anger on her face recalled just who left them behind as the Leroys attacked the place, who left everyone in the dark...

"Galactic Federation..."

She marched off through the junkyard, affirming this dark change to her heart. She picked up a twin set of hair cuffs, red and yellow in color and locked them around her hair, messing it up into what could be considered twin and bulky ponytails.

She tinkered around with junk at the colony for a moment. Picking up a piece of a crown and what looked like part of a Cosmos Card reader for a spacecraft, she fashioned wires and a mechanical setup rather quickly into one whole piece and also applied other attributes to make it useful in the elements. How a young 5-year-old human's mind could work so fast was unbelievable.

Then at that moment, she laid five crystals in the device. It booted up, as her anger began to build up.

That name that echoed in her head. "Galactic Federation... they left us there to die. They didn't do anything about the Leroys that so attacked our home... And they didn't do anything about the damage, like the so-called peacekeepers they are..."

Kyohaku watched the young girl fumble around. However, with this shift in herself, he gazed with a wary eye.

She shoved a Cosmos Card she had kept for a long time into the device, her most prized possession her parents gave her- "Astral Knight Stitch".

With its entry into the device, it spawned up that very same futuristic glowing blue blade from the card's picture, a blade marked with that of the UGF's own symbol. It felt somewhat like treason wielding this. Gripping it tightly, she made one thing clear as Yai sent the blade down hard into the side of an abandoned spacecraft...

"Galactic Federation... YOU WILL BE NEXT FOR LEAVING US BEHIND!" she screamed in a tearful rage, cutting through the wingspan of that very UGF craft like the Leroy would've her shoulder's healing wound.

Her mind was made up, even if it was wrong. And it was at that moment, a moment filled with the coursing thoughts of revenge and pain over home, that the Astral Jumpers' namesake was born...

* * *

Yai left the cold feeling of that memory as she should have, back three years ago, back before the crimes and infamy of the Astral Jumpers skyrocketed. It wasn't a game anymore, it had evolved into something to show the Galactic Federation who was truly at fault. Who truly couldn't keep peace.

Three whole years and back to tonight's reality. Over on the Kamakuran rooftop, our fair present day Yai used her Astral Knight's Blade from the Cosmos Card and struck it down on the roof... however, she wasn't slicing anything down to size these days in her 8-year-old life, at least anything that didn't get in her way. If it did, the difference was very sudden.

Caressing the aglow blade around in an arc, she drew something into the side of an exit door down to a complex below.

When she was finished, Yai looked to Kyohaku Stitch- "Well, whaddaya think? Good work of art?"

"They'll naga know who was here..." the two snickered.

"Now come on... we gotta leave before we're caught. After all, maybe we'll find something that'll help our precious Tri-Rune hunt out..." Yai urged, as the two leaped from roof to roof escaping from any authorities that would've dared catch them, intergalactic or let alone human.

The drawing Yaiko had made on the door as they left looked of broken Tantalog. It was an insignia slanted to the left upward, almost in a spike pattern.

Yai had used this logo to tag places where the Astral Jumpers had been to, not caring if it defiled an area of perfection. However, the real question was the alien nature of the symbol she drew. Just how'd she found this symbol and whether it's stolen or not remains to be seen, but it may have been something close to the flaxen girl. Again, how remained to be seen.

After this, it seemed that Kamakura had become packed as the night rolled by. With Yuna and Kyo having met with their Stitches and now Yai and Kyohaku sneaking around the place like masterminds of their own craft, things were starting to get interesting. But how else will these souls cross? That's a good question...


	4. CELEBRATION

**Chapter 4  
****CELEBRATION**

* * *

Out in the reaches of space, far away in the realm of Telon-12, known as a planet in the outer ridges of the Turo system, lied a deserted town. Dark skies hung over this place, as if to amplify how desolate it was.

The place seemed a wreck, everything was either bent, mangled or devastated far beyond repair- far beyond anything salvageable. Things had not kept quiet however...

Huffing and footsteps came from a lone pale red-skinned Plogonarian who found himself trapped in this ominous locale, garbed in a single toga-like attire. He seemed old, like he had seen action around this galaxy before. Not of the legal kind though. He seemed to be cleaning up his act and used the town as a makeshift shortcut back to where he would've called home on Telon-12. Still, what was interesting was the alien was running from something in this dreary place.

Loud footsteps thundered behind him as this Plogonarian ran and ran for his life. One could easily see the fear in his single big eye as he tried to make his escape around this ghost town.

Turning around occasionally, one would think he was paranoid for all the wrong reasons. However, he knew what he was running from- something far worse than his thoughts could imagine.

Turning a corner and hiding in an abandoned restaurant, he hid himself below a window, hoping what he was running from would leave him alone. The Plogonarian's breath was harsh from his mad dash, like one would be if a monster was far behind them. However, the worst was yet to come.

The Plogonarian then felt himself get picked up and get slammed away with relative ease by something incredibly strong. Tossed about like a rag doll, he found himself down the floor of this alien's restaurant floor, bruised. He looked up trying to hide his pain and see what attacked him...

Ahead lied the silhouette of what looked to be a red assassin, his hair spiky and hiding one of his aglow red eyes. Twin antennae of a mechanical sort hung above his head, complimenting his ripped attire and the four arms and two legs he stood on.

His attire though, was an open yet thrashed coat, belts and a pair of shorts that managed to fit something so savage. The main focus of this mysterious power was a pair of gauntlets that glowed of a blood red light, the claws on them burning of pure plasma, never halting that yellow glow that signified something so hot, it could kill on contact.

Something else about this creature emanated fear, but one couldn't really put their finger on what sent shivers down spines. He took a step forward, eyeing his prey...

"Tay cannot run much longer..." the mystery monster said, raising one of the two claws of plasma to the Plogonarian ahead of him.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I- I have a wife and two kids back in the greater city of this planet," his prey wailed consumed with fear to the red-eyed assailant.

Aiming the four-bladed blazing claw at his opposition, the beast spoke again with a mere chuckle- "Meega naga gonna kill you... Meega just want the answer to one question- where issa the Astral Jumpers?"

The Plogonarian looked surprised at this monster's interest in the Astral Jumpers. Why would someone who looked so deadly want to follow the Astral Jumpers? Did he wish to... kill them, perhaps?

"W- Why chase them? They've gotten over 300 counts of criminal activity in the universe, what use would you have with them," the Plogonarian ached out.

"Oh, naga any reason at all... meega just wanted to pay a visit to one of them. See how things were keeping", the mysterious assailant said to himself with a shaded grin that only served to mask his inner agenda with the girl criminal and her Variated Experiment.

"R- Really? You... you really want to find them though? You surely have some kind of a problem if you're tailing them," the Plogonarian spat out.

The assailant was biding his time.

After a short silence, he spoke again- "Tay wouldn't know just where in the universe they would be, ih," with the Plogonarian stammering and trying to find the words.

"A- Bu- I- I was hearing on a Federation news bulletin they were somewhere in the M- Milky Way Galaxy! That's about all I know," the pale red Plogonarian fumbled with his words.

The silhouetted terror merely looked at him with another smirk, pointing the burning claw of his closer to the Plogonarian's face.

"Tay have a name, correct," he asked.

"B- Bo- Bob! It's Bob, sir!" he spat out in fear. The fear crawled closer as the killer being stepped backward, heading for the entrance of this mangled shop.

"Bob," he stayed silent for a moment- "Well, Bob? Tay love family very much, ih?"

Bob looked on in complete disdain at what the monster was going to do... or rather, his lack thereof.

"Y- Yes?!" he yelled, the red-eyed being easing closer to the door.

"Then tay can go back to them," the beast said with a smirk.

"R- Really!?" Bob cried happily.

However, that happiness was a mere ruse.

Following his move to the door, out of complete disregard for what Bob had told him, the monster fired a volley of his plasma claws into the back of this restaurant, his claws hitting a oven which had been leaking oil over the length of time it had been abandoned and...

BOOM!

The entire restaurant had went up in an explosive fireball... Bob had no chance. Fire and debris coated the sidewalks of this desolate and destroyed part of Telon-12 following the explosion, along with a screen of smoke that pervaded the area, as if the harsh effects of war had stricken the land fierce.

Walking through the flames without any a single scratch, this red assailant stood with a smile that had little to no regard to life but itself. A smile that cared about causing anarchy to the galaxies and nothing more.

"Milky Way Galaxy, ih? Then... meega's going there. Or better yet... a friend of meega is..." the beast said raising a claw to himself with the feeling of another "job" well done.

The burning golden claws on his gauntlet reloaded themselves with ease. He chuckled to himself, his laughter turning more and more sinister with every breath.

Nearby while he made his exit, a radio that survived the blast started up with a PSA...

"_...Astral Jumper threat. Also, be advised, there have been sightings of a powerful predator tracked and investigated by authorities within UGF space. This unidentified being is a extreme hazard in himself, so if you do indeed spot him, run immediately and take cover in any rational hiding spo-"_

The PSA stopped dead in its tracks, as the radio was then crushed by the assassin's foot, strength that hadn't been seen in the universe since Experiment 626 was created years ago. He left no trace of his crime, yet the damage was still abound.

This assailant only went by one name. A name harrowed by the galaxies for deeds done that he himself made sure never to be linked to. A name that made everyone quiver in fear at the mere mention of him. A name that would never be uttered without death watching behind whoever said it.

A name... that would never able be traced. And he was coming for the Astral Jumpers, whoever he was...

* * *

The sound of a song used for an alarm clock came about Kyozuki Yamada's room. The sound of super-chill synths and low high-hats entered the room as a glowing morning came from outside the city of Kamakura and entered into the young surfer Stitch freak's wooden yet homey room.

To Kyo, this was a relatively ordinary wake-up call, but there was someone else who was in the humble house, someone new- Yuna and Stitch.

The alarm's burst of music had Yuna groaning, groggy from her deep sleep as she hobbled up with a big yawn from what would've been a sound sleep for her.

See, Yuna was well-known to be an interesting sleeper at her age of 10- she'd snore, she'd be incredibly sound in her rest and even more was the fact she'd punch and kick in her sleep, performing a hidden art of sleep karate. Of course, this need not apply here due to her being awakened by the loud alarm.

"Guh... m- morning already? Couldn't we have... five... five more minutes..." Yuna said, rubbing her eyes of sleep.

Stitch mimicked her, waking up with a yawn and a rub of his own eyes too, giving off the certain synergy that Yuna had with him.

Kyo on the other hand got up rather giddy- stopping the song that came from, surprise surprise, his own phone as an alarm.

With a tap of a button or two of his own Disney Mobile phone, Stitch model of course. "Ah... always a good day when you can rise with a good tune. Sleep well, dudes?" questioning the girl and the Experiment.

Yuna, whom stood in her usual pink sleepwear, gave a rather big yawn and followed up- "Y- Yeah... the mattress your Uncle gave us could've been comfier, but I ain't complaining."

Stitch nodded and added to what Yuna said. "Ih... naga the best feeling on the back," he added.

Yuna only looked at him with a smirk after. "Says the one who has the sterner skeleton," Yuna said with a chuckle.

Kyozuki then walked over to where his own Experiment 626 slept. Back before Yuna and Stitch arrived in Kamakura, Kyo tried hardily to discipline the Experiment, soothing its savage attitude it had towards everyone and everything.

Because of this, his thinking led him to get a dog bed for Stitch- an odd move for one whom idolizes a Hawaiian and a Okinawan who proved to be clever in their own different ways with alien life. Even moreso, one of these idols was in the room right now. He kept with the dog bed for weeks though, up to now where Yuna and her Stitch arrived in Kamakura.

That said and with a nudge, he woke up his alien partner.

"Hey dude, wakey-wakey," Kyo enthusiastically elbowed the Experiment.

He woke with a moan afterwards. "G- G'morning..." Kyozuki's Stitch said with a yawn following his move, timidly waking up.

Yuna had to give a double take at the twin Stitches- it was crazy how both of them could be so alike, yet so different at the same time.

With that, Kyo stepped back, looking at his now awake compadres.

"Well! Considering that you two haven't explored Kamakura yet, I figured it'd be best to show you around today. Hit up a few of the choice spots, maybe the GAME-Haruda shop, the beach, end off with one of the Kamakuran flash mobs we pull off down at my favorite pad here, the city dock if we're lucky enough... Sound good to you dudes?" he explained.

Seemed like Kyo was planning an all-Kamakura tour today for his new friends. Perfect timing what with Yuna and her Stitch's disguises made the night prior.

Yuna of course, gave a energetic nod- "Sure, sounds good to me! It'd be sweet exploring this place! After all, a city's not our usual stomping ground, huh Stitch?" passing a question to her blue and fluffy friend.

"Ih! Sign me up, baby!" Stitch said, excited to even be given the opportunity to explore Kamakura.

Kyo smiled at this- he was getting to go hang out with his "_idols"_. This was a dream come true to most Stitch fans, especially given Kamakura's obsession with the "fictional little monster".

He grinned at this as such, waving the three along- "Well then, let's not bail on an opportunity like this then! Let's get going as soon as possible... you know, after breakfast and all!"

Yuna raised an eyebrow at the mention of breakfast. "Breakfast? Is your Uncle gonna be helping us with that," she questioned.

Kyo had an answer almost immediately- "Nah, nah- he's out at work right now. Coincidentally enough, my Uncle works a surf shack down at Kamakura's main beach. Of course, you dudes can't hit that place up because the moment they'd see you two in beachwear... the fandom stampede would continue once more. So when I said the beach, I've got a plan- no worries, dudes!"

Yuna's trusty Stitch only added to this- "Breakfast still means food for meega," rubbing his belly after.

Though, this still had Yuna more than a little curious- "You said it was just you and your Uncle... don't you have another adult around here? Like a Dad or a Mom?"

Kyo felt himself shrink a little at Yuna's question. He never recalled having a mother, but his father was another story entirely, in fact one he was hesitant on telling at the moment. He looked away, Yuna catching this alongside Stitch with a drop in her tone.

"It's... complicated, isn't it?" she said.

Kyozuki nodded, but he didn't let it bring him down.

"Yeah... you know, I might just tell you sometime on that. But for now, let's not be totally bogus. Let's go make up breakfast and then I'll show you around!" he said, changing a worry to a laidback optimism of his own.

Yuna and Stitch followed suit with the surfer fanboy, not wanting to be total downers. The Okinawan duo gave a raise of their arms to the air and chanted a loud "YEAH!", as if to add to their excitement of exploring their newfound friends' home.

Kyo's Stitch though, looked on at Kyo in worry. It wasn't the showing that worried the timid odd Experiment. It was Kyo himself. Just what was it about his family that had him so hesitant?

Alas, there wasn't time to dwell on that factor- Kamakura was out there to explore... following a nice and simple Japanese breakfast, of course.

* * *

The powerhouse of a city was still as towering and mental as ever, but the group of Stitches, Yuna and Kyo had started on a tour around the city of Kamakura.

Yuna's disguise as Flo was working well despite a few double takes. Stitch's counter to that as Joker also worked, surprisingly alike back in Hawaii, Stitch's trial to blend in human life ended up working just as well.

Kyozuki's own Stitch though worked well as a plush, in fact, Kyo had been keeping him as still as ever when bringing him into Kamakura, even before he had managed to tame his own Experiment. Nonetheless, they had stopped by the GAME-Haruda Shop first, but the store itself wasn't anything to write home about, as it was a family run hobby shop.

After this though, Kyo's phone went off as he led Yuna and Stitch down the street from the GAME-Haruda Shop.

Curious, Yuna piped up in a rather distinguished voice- "What's up? Who's that ringing you?"

One could tell she was trying too hard to make her voice fit in.

Kyozuki looked at his Disney Mobile phone as it vibrated, a picture of a girl with a green and magenta shirt, overalls (albeit with one strap on and one strap off) and brown hair parted off and hanging on her back showed up as an icon on the digitized screen, a wallpaper of a certain already known Experiment 626 in the background.

Kyo had to exclaim. "Oh hey, it's Chiro!"

This was only met with Yuna and Stitch's off-kilter voices not far behind exclaiming the very same thing- "Chiro? Who's Chiro?"

Kyo turned around and explained himself. "Chiro Yokoi, she's been my best friend for years, dudes... wonder what she's up to?" he said.

Upon picking up and pressing the touch screen on his phone, he started talking. "Yo, Chiro!"

Yuna and Stitch, or rather Flo and Joker as they were to be known in Kamakura, looked at each other curiously. It was as if they were thinking the same thing, that sense of synergy the two shared showing.

They could hear the light bit of Chiro's voice on the other end of the Disney Mobile phone Kyozuki had as the two had talked on, it sounded bubbly and somewhat charming for a fangirl of sorts. Then again, if Kyozuki Yamada said she was a friend, chances are, they would be cool with her whenever they got the chance to meet her.

"You want to do what!? Oh yeah, I was supposed to surf with you today, wasn't I? Well... do you mind if we have company? I've got two newbies to Kamakura and I'm giving them the tour, dude!" Kyo said.

Yuna and Stitch had recalled their plan earlier- GAME-Haruda, this beach Kyo knew, flash mob, though questions were certainly abound over this beach the master surfer knew.

"Alright, meet up at the alley where you-know-what is... you know!" Kyo's tone turned into whispering into his Disney Mobile phone indistinctly before he said his goodbye and hung up the mobile device.

"Ahh... the Yamadas and the Yokois go _way_ back, you know?" Kyo said as soon as he hung up.

After their inevitable eavesdropping, Yuna looked up, once again trying to disguise her voice.

"So, where are we going now in this city, dude? Weren't we hitting up some beach?" she said. Again, the fact she was trying to hard was definitely showing.

Kyozuki raised his hand up and waved the duo along- "Yep! Follow me, dudes!" he said.

* * *

The edge of Kamakura had its fair share of dank alleyways. Of course,Yuna and Stitch had to fish themselves out of one before they were spotted and forced into hiding earlier. It was one of these smelly alleys on the southwest end of Kamakura that Kyo, Yuna and Stitch stood near, Kyo's Stitch held in his hands all the same maintaining his "plush" form.

"Ugh, dude... you sure you wanted to come here?" Yuna asked, plugging her nose after due to the foul stench. It reminded her of when her and her Stitch first arrived into Kamakura.

Kyo nodded, he knew his way. Of course, being Yuna and Stitch's guide, he better have known his way at that.

A cheery voice called down from the alley.

"Yoo-hoo, Kyo dude!" the voice sounded.

Kyo and Yuna turned around justly, looking to where the sound came from down the left of the way.

Standing there was the same girl from Kyozuki's phone, brown hair, overalls and striped shirt included. She gave quite a crazy grin to Kyo, lightly socking him with her hand as soon as they met.

"Kyozuki, dude!"

"Chiro! Heh, hopefully the walk went well?"

"You know it, man!" the two trading off friendly banter.

One could tell immediately they had history, much like Kyo had said- _the Yamadas and the Yokois go WAY back_.

You see, Kyo had known Chiro Yokoi since the days of grade school, her family owning a bread shop dubbed Yokoi Breads in the city. On top of this, her mother and father had acted like a second family to Kyo, especially given recent events. What those events are remained to be seen.

Chiro looked over after her usual "secret handshake"-like rigmarole with Kyo, meeting eyes with Yuna. To Chiro, all she could see was a girl dressed up in a tie-dye shirt and blue shorts with some kind of a swimsuit underneath, though something was odd about her.

Even more odder was the disguised Stitch, the punk look was off-putting enough to be believable, but she could also see something with him.

"Hey, you and you... you've got names, do you?" Chiro asked brightly with a smile.

Yuna spoke up with a nod. "Sure do, yo- name's Flo. Awesome to meet you!" she said with a smile, her disguise seeming to work well despite Chiro's suspicions of her.

Her Stitch complied too with a wave, though Yuna had to do the talking for him. "My partner's name is Joker. We're the most tubular pair you've ever seen, dude!"

Kyo looked to Chiro, whom was a little confused at this whole thing. A thought crossed his mind.

"_Maybe I should tell her who they really are... we're best friends, she can keep a secret for the whole gang so we can keep our cover in the city, yeah?"_ his head said for him.

He had to make a decision. It was either now or later. And granted, if it was later, he didn't want her to get angry that he'd been lying to her.

"Hey, Chiro? You think you can keep a secret when we get to this beach?" Kyo said.

"Huh? Oh sure! Of course, you know my lips are sealed whenever you have anything private, dude!" Chiro said understandingly.

Yuna and Stitch looked at one another, catching on with what Kyo's plan was with a nod. Kyo nodded a more assuring nod after, waving the group ahead down the central alley path.

"Great, now come on! You guys are gonna lay eyes on paradise, dudes!" he said- alluding to this beach he was taking them to.

Granted, Kamakura's main beach on the south end of the city was the only beach the others had known, but a promise of paradise was more than enough for Yuna, Stitch and Chiro to follow down the path no matter how terrible of smell it seemed to be...

* * *

Some time after going down this dank and darker route blocked off by the skyscrapers of the Kamakuran city, the group found something absolutely marvelous at the end.

"Whoa..." mirrored Yuna and Chiro upon seeing the wonder of it all.

At the end of the urban path they took, it appeared nature had hid a small and secluded beach. The sands and the city stone met up all the same as the ocean water kissing the sands farther out. The ocean was blue and clean, not as crystal clear as Yuna's home of Izayoi Island, but it still managed its excellence. A line of rocks varying in height jutted out along the sides of this place out farther to the sea, allowing for seclusion. And on both sides, palm trees and hibiscus bushes laid, keeping this place truly akin to a paradise. It was a natural marvel hidden away.

But how did Kyozuki know some place like this and manage to keep it hidden from the Kamakuran public?

"Ladies and gents, welcome to Crescent Beach! This is my little secret beach, I come here often to catch some waves in peace and relax easy..." Kyo said.

Yuna had perked up, all the while trying to be cautious as to not blow her cover just before the fact. "How in the heck did you find a pad like this, dude?" she asked.

"Well, in my treks throughout the city, I managed to find this place a long time ago when I was in public school! Walking home from school one day, I decided to trek into the alleys and after following this one and risking my nose something fierce, I reached here. Natural marvel and a Yamada well-kept secret!" his explanation delivering just the answer the group wanted to hear out of him.

"Now that's rad, dude! Amazing you kept it a secret for so long from me this long!" Chiro socked his shoulder.

Yuna piped up after his little story. "So, you're saying... we're safe here?" her voice had a tone of confusion under its Kamakuran try.

"Yep, you're good, dudes," Kyo said, turning to Chiro.

"You remember that secret I wanted you to keep? It's not this beach, but it'd be nice if you could keep it secret," he continued to his good friend.

"Uhh... sure, I'll keep this beach a secret, but what are you getting at, dude?" Chiro was obviously confused, but ever so curious about what the surfer was getting at.

"You'll see. Okay, dudes! Go on!"

"Oh, thank goodness..." Yuna said, her actual voice coming to before she took the bubbly hat off of her head, her pigtails bushing up from their held place back to normal. Stitch did equally so, taking off his tuque and scruffing up his hair back to its usual self. This move clearly revealed themselves as who they were to the Kamakuran girl.

Yet to Chiro, she could barely contain herself. She was so giddy! Why? Because in front of her eyes, THE Yuna and Stitch stood there! The ones from the TV shows and movies! Kyo knew celebrities, celebrities that were thought of as fiction!

Chiro squealed loudly, her true inner fangirl coming through. Luckily it was just them at Crescent Beach or else if this was in public, the consequences would be quite dire.

"Kyozuki, you know Yuna and Stitch!? How the heck did this happen?!" Chiro said, her excitement coming through her voice.

"Well, they came from another place, if I can make this easy... But wait... there's more to this secret!" Kyo said, whispering to his Stitch "plush" as it leaps down on its own, coming to life.

Kyo's Stitch muttered and looked around the vista as Chiro's glee peaked higher than ever before.

"You even have a Stitch too, dude!? Oh my God, they look _so_ cool in person!" Chiro said, breathing in and out quickly in her happiness.

Kyo rubbed the back of his head with a grin. "Yeah, this is the secret I wanted you to keep from the world. Yuna and these two Stitches aren't safe out there in that crazy fanatic city. One look at their true identity and they'll freak out! I don't want that to happen to these dudes..." he said.

"That means in the city, call Yuna and Stitch here by the names Flo and Joker... you think you can keep these guys a secret, Chiro?" Kyo continued.

Chiro nodded, calming her hyperactive self down. "Yeah, dude... count on me to keep this secret! Yuna and Stitch? Uh-uh, Flo and Joker!" she pointed out.

Yuna perked up with a smile. "Thanks, Chiro. We really appreciate you doing this for us!" she said with a bow.

Chiro smiled back, though a question seemed to dawn on her.

"Anytime! Though, I gotta ask... can I have a hug with you, Yuna?"

"Huh? Uh... well, I am a lover and a fighter, so-"

"AWESOME!"

Chiro abruptly hugged Yuna before she had the chance to react. To Yuna, Chiro's hug was so tight... To a normal person, it would have felt crushing to them, even choked them. Yuna though was made of sterner stuff for a girl of 10, so to her, it just felt like a squeeze.

She patted Chiro's back after this sudden hug with a anxious grin. "Heheh... T- Thanks... Chiro... Ichariba Chodei..."

"So, weren't we supposed to surf out here?" Chiro asked, but her question was already answered by the fact that Kyo pulled his trusty blue surfboard out from a pack on his back, though one could tell he was lugging it around the whole way.

"Yeah, dude! Hope you brought your swim things, dude?" Kyo asked.

This was met with a scoff from Chiro- "You know it, and I'm go-"

"I CALL FIRST DIBS!" Kyo cut Chiro off, running behind a palm tree with pack on his back. Chiro's face drooped after.

Yuna and Stitch didn't have much to do in order to get into the beach scene, not to mention they didn't need a palm tree. Yuna had worn a usual underneath of her disguise- her iconic swimwear made by her Gram, a red and yellow bikini top and notched shorts tied snugly. Upon taking the shirt and shorts she used as a disguise off, she was already set.

"See, this is why we planned ahead!" Yuna said, propping her hands behind her head with a smile.

Stitch dropped his shorts, shirt and jacket in addition, leaving his own usual orange hibiscus swim trunks on him. He left his disguise clothes in a pile with Yuna's disguise near Yuna's orange backpack she carried with her and nodded with a trademark "Ih!".

Yuna noticed Kyo's own Stitch in all their changing, unlike her own Stitch, he was just sitting there. Kyozuki walked out after that dressed in his own swim trunks, a red set with twin white stripes trailing down them and white string untied. Chiro already gave a hearty nod and ran behind the same palm tree and bushes he was changing behind.

"Hey, Kyo? What's the deal with your Stitch, why didn't he bring anything with him?" Yuna asked, her arms crossed.

"Well, dude- I tried to give him clothes before... but he just ripped them up. I'm sure he absolutely _hates_ clothes. However, that doesn't mean he's not opposed to surfing though. In fact, that's why he isn't so savage as he used to be. I taught him how to lighten up what with the advice from my "idols", you know?"

Yuna immediately knew what he meant by "idols"- Lilo and herself. She smiled knowing that she was of some good inspiration to the surfer fanboy.

"Well, I'm glad to have given you some ideas to help tame your own Stitch. Sure I never could've been here before, but hey! If I was on TV, then it's something!" she said with a laugh after.

Kyo chuckled himself after, the boy seeing her modesty there and then.

"By the way, Kyo?" Yuna asked.

Kyo himself gave a tilt of his head in curiosity.

Yuna smiled at him. "Thanks for taking us in when we needed it, Kyo... Until we can find our way back home, it means a lot that you added us to your "ohana", you know?" she said- genuinely happy at his trusting move to give Yuna and Stitch some refuge in his Yamada household.

Kyo gave a smile right back to her. "Anytime, Yuna. Mi casa es su casa. I've already got enough to be thankful about from you anyways, dudette!"

She chuckled after, again- catching onto his belief in his "idols". "I know, Kyo- I know..."

Chiro, some time after, came out in her own wear. Oddly fitting for her fangirl-like nature, her swimwear was a warm-colored two-piece top and shorts combination that was modelled after a cartoon character in their realm named Marina Coralyte. The story behind her was she was a surfer girl who teamed up with fabled mermaids to beat pollution incarnate. But that's another story for another time.

"Whatever happened to ladies first, huh?" she questioned the Yamada boy.

"Hey, you shoulda called dibs, dude!" Kyo said, lightly socking Chiro on the arm, her doing it right back with a laugh.

Chiro looked over at Yuna and Stitch in their wears. It was like they stepped out of the TV with the exact swimsuits they were wearing. And that thinking got the girl excited again, but she didn't want to overdo it like she did last time hugging Yuna.

A bit after, Kyo dragged his surfboard out to the water, Chiro, Yuna and the two Stitches following atop the board as the five went off paddling into the ocean, looking for waves to surf on that day. Yuna wasn't much good at surfing compared to her Stitch or even Kyozuki himself, she was but a novice (despite the surfboard in her room), but at least it would've been fun, right? All in all, that afternoon seemed to linger well in good spirits...

* * *

While the others had their fun in Kyo's hidden Crescent Beach, elsewhere as twilight had fallen, the Astral Jumpers were hidden in an alley near the Kamakura Dock, between stores that stretched out to the actual dock itself. One could see assorted graffiti abound the alley they were in. There was even one of a dapper triangle of sorts among the stylized words and art that laid in this narrow way.

At this hour, one could hear the sound of loud electro music blaring from farther out and the lights bright to boot. Yai and Kyohaku Stitch veered out from the alley, obviously catching onto this odd ceremony happening down at the dock...

"What is with that unorthodox racket? The sound of it is irritating! All these screeches sound awful... I'd much rather prefer the sound of a pleasant orchestra over this mess!" Yai said, aggravated by the noise of the electronic music coming from whatever was going on.

"Naga know, but meega naga like it much either..." Kyohaku Stitch said.

Kyohaku's ears, much like any Experiment 626, were a lot more sensitive and the loud nature of this event was getting to him as well.

"Stay here, I'm going to look into this mess..."

Yai had stepped off into the streets, blending in well with the Kamakuran people coming down the way to this odd event. And on the odd positive, she knew she wouldn't be caught out here. No one would've known she was an Astral Jumper in these parts. Nonetheless, she walked down to the happening on the other end of the Kamakura Dock.

Around her was an interesting display. The loud beats were one thing, being pumped out by a boy with a skull bandana, a T-shirt of some bigwig label and a setup of CDJs and laptop, yet a large chunk of Kamakura folk were dancing. Some of them were even taking it a step beyond and break-dancing in the center in a circle.

This kind of sight made Yai immediately not want to be a part of it.

"_This is just outright stupid. Why would you want to do a dance like this to unimpressive music like that? It's just... wrong!"_ she had thought.

Straight as the Astral Jumper had turned around though, she was met with someone walking down the way to the Kamakura Dock... or rather five someones.

Kyo, Chiro, both of the respectively disguised Stitches and Yuna all walked down the way.

Yai looked rather nervous, her thoughts saying what she wanted to- _"Blitznak! That looks like that cursed girl from the rune! If she sees me, things are gonna take a turn for the worse, if the ancient artifact was any indication!"_

"Welcome one and all to the Kamakuran flash mob! It's kinda a pastime of this place," Kyozuki explained to his public.

Chiro even nodded. "It's quite a blast every time one of these happens! And they do happen often, like every odd night!" bobbing her head to the music playing.

Yuna gave a smirk, knowing she was gonna enjoy this. "Oh, this already looks radical, dudes! Where I come from, we have a dance that's sim- huh?"

Yuna interrupted herself as her brown eyes met with someone whom looked off-key... or at least to Yuna's understanding.

It was a shorter girl with flaxen hair in big ponytails whose attire looked way different than the other Kamakurans, what with the sweater, shorts and her socks and sandals. She tried to dance, but one look could tell she was failing at even doing it, tripping over her legs once all too often. Her attempt at dancing wasn't good.

She stepped forward towards this girl as she fell again. "Hey! You need some help there?" Yuna asked the girl on her knees in her attempt of a Kamakuran dialect that matched her Flo identity.

She looked up at her with a gasp. "A- Uhh... Nah, nah, I'm fine! Don't worry about me... I- I gotta go!" the flaxen girl sputtered.

Yuna stopped her for a moment- "Hey, you don't have to be scared! I'm not gonna bite!"

The girl was caught in a cold sweat, but she knew her answer was still to get out of there. "I- I'm sorry, ma'am!" she blurted out, running away, her ponytails bobbing behind her.

Yuna vaulted a hand out, trying to get her back.

"Hey, wait! There's no need to... run..." Yuna watched as the awkward girl ran off.

Though one thing about the girl's appearance stuck out to her. Her mahogany sweater's back insignia. A golden mark that looked of a cross between Tantalog and some other ancient galactic history that slanted to the left. Yuna knew Tantalog from Stitch, but not that much to know if that mark was from the language.

"Dude... something tells me I'm gonna be seeing more of her."

The girl, whom the disguised Yuna had no clue was in fact Yaiko Galaxia, ran back behind the alley she was originally hiding in, catching her breath from running that fast. She never had strong lungs having been raised in the junk piles of the galaxy and this was fact.

"Ah... t- that was close..." she said.

Kyohaku Stitch looked to her after her rush back here. "Gaba?"

"T- That girl saw me! You know, the one from the rune! At... at least, I think it's the same one..."

Yai brought the Tri-Rune again from her pack, looking on at the ancient picture for a moment to try and see any similarities in the girl on the left. While there were some she could note, the eyes and the curls on the side of the tanned girl's head, Yai making the mad dash had her blank on the rest.

Something slid out from under her grabbing her Tri-Rune from the pack as she held it... it was a picture. Sliding it out, Yai took a look.

Right in frame was a girl in a violet and white dress, wearing a very jagged crown atop her head. A tapestry of sorts hung from her dress as well. Her skin and look seemed to bear a strikingly odd resemblance to the girl she ran into, though her brown hair looked refined into a more regal look, twirls and strands abound. She had to have been a princess of some kind in the realms, perhaps even before Yai's time, the pic being a memoir of sorts.

Yai stared at this picture for a while. It was obvious this royal girl, whoever it was meant a lot to Yaiko before her trek as a Astral Jumper began. Why else would she have a picture of her? But that thought didn't last long before she made a sudden move.

With one swift growl, she ripped the picture into pieces, tossing them aside into the trashy alleyway.

Kyohaku looked surprised by this. "P- Princess... tay okitaka?"

She retorted back with a harsh attitude- "Yeah, I'm fine! Now let's get somewhere less noisy before I have a headache!"

Kyohaku Stitch did a double take at Yaiko before he nodded.

But Yai had one more thing to add- "Oh and one more thing? DON'T call me princess right now! I'm not in the mood!" Kyohaku Stitch nodded once again before turning and running down the alleyway.

Yai was just about to follow before stopping. She turned around at the pieces of the regal picture ripped up and got to her knees, looking at what she did. She looked disappointed in herself as she picked up one or two of the pieces focusing from the chest to the head of this female, about ready to shed a tear. A moment of pause for her was a rarity.

"Yaiko?" the Variated Experiment called behind her.

Yai immediately perked up and stood, dropping the pieces of the picture she was holding. "M- My apologies! I'm coming!" she said, running to catch up with Kyohaku Stitch.

With that, the two Astral Jumpers had fled the scene deeper into the alleys of Kamakura. Though Yai's hesitation to leave after ripping the picture seemed like a shot in the dark that maybe there was some good buried in the cold girl... Maybe being the keyword given her nefarious records.

Yuna on the other hand, followed Kyo and Chiro and their respective Stitches into the crowd of the Kamakuran flash-mob after that encounter. She could see clearly that this place was more a place of escape for the Kamakuran folk, all of the teenage or even older souls dancing (or even break-dancing) their cares away.

"As you can clearly see, these dudes know how to party," Kyo stated. And he wasn't wrong.

"Up on the decks there, my friend Zane handles the DJ work. He even owns the store Fashion Grunge here, so I know him well there! His girlfriend Twilight hangs out in the flash mobs... I bet she's here, isn't she?" he explained.

Kyozuki looked over to the side and found a girl of auburn hair, dressed in blue shorts, a white shirt and red sweater over her attire among the crowd as he nodded, confirming that girl was indeed Twilight. Even moreso, the boy with the skull bandana was a friend of Kyo's, Zane.

Chiro had spared no expense and started her dancing in the crowd, following their collective, switching between all sorts of moves. Kyo had kept near Yuna. But it seemed as though Yuna's curiosity had looked into the circle of people break-dancing.

"Yo, Yuna... you doing what I think you're doing?" Kyo asked.

Yuna gave a smirk and a nod to him without a word, stepping further into the crowd and into the ring of people.

The other Kamakurans looked to her for the moment, having stepped in.

"Whoa... who's this girl?" one of them asked.

"She kinda looks familiar, but man- her look's fly!"

"Is she gonna dance though, bro?"

More and more of them perked up at Yuna's entry. The others saw Flo here, a newbie about to make her mark into Kamakura. But to herself, she knew she, meaning Yuna, was gonna rock this circle, the build-up of the new song playing matching her entry.

The moment the electronics did their thing, Yuna leaped right in, spinning and moving to the beat in a form that the others hadn't seen. She was break-dancing, yes- but for a girl her age to be pulling moves like this? It was an awe. Yuna's agility and endurance not only in her island's "eisa" dance, but also her blackbelt mastery in karate helped her pull off these moves without delay. She even did a one-handed handstand, flipping into another dance move. Every move she performed, the crowd was more and more enticed.

Kyo was in awe, as was Chiro. _This_ was the "idol" they knew so well? Say it ain't so! She had a crowd going as well with her performance.

"Go, go, go, go!" they cheered as she continued to the beat playing out.

One final build up on the track playing out and she did one incredible kick turning into a flip in the air and landed with ease, all without losing her bubble hat or blowing her cover. The rest of the Kamakuran crowd went nuts at the sight of it.

"Man, girl- what's your name?" one of the admirers asked the disguised Yuna.

"Name's Flo. Just... Flo" she said.

"Flo? Whoa, where'd you get those moves?" another of the crowd had asked.

Yuna shrugged. "Guess it was just natural for me, dude!"

The crowd had raised her up high, crowd-surfing her across the waves of dancing mad souls.

"FLO, FLO, FLO, FLO!" they now cheered as she was carried about with a grin.

Being careful in the city was one thing, but being accepted was another. And it seemed like Yuna did just that.

Kyo looked to Chiro with a smirk- "I think she'll be a fine fit in Kamakura, don't you think, dude?"

"No worries there, dude!" Chiro retorted with a giggle.

And with that display, the rest of the night of the tour had been a success...

* * *

After the Kamakuran flash mob had packed it up for the night and the stars in the sky had fallen over the city, Yuna, Kyo and the gang walked back up the way back to the Yamada home down on the southeast end of the city. Yuna, or rather Flo managed to make her mark on the city well tonight, plus Kyozuki managed to get to show her the whole of Kamakuran culture. Needless to say, it was an awesome day...

Chiro gave a yawn.

"Bro... that was awesome... thanks for inviting me for today, dude!" she said to the taller Kyo.

Kyo nodded, holding his Stitch close to him akin to his "plush" form. "Yeah, anytime Chiro! Tonight was a trip and a half. But I think this is where we break off here, huh?"

"Yeah, agreed... Dad'd be wondering where I am and all."

Yuna spoke up in her normal voice, since no one was around, bowing to Chiro.

"It was sweet meeting you tonight, Chiro!" she said, her Stitch doing similarly in synergy.

Chiro turned to Flo and Joker with a overly gleeful smile- "Ditto, meeting you guys was a dream come true!"

Kyo retorted back with equal way- "You and me both..."

Yuna gave a grin and a chuckle. "Well, I'm glad!"

However, a voice cut into the conversation like an iceberg crumbling.

"You kids are out awful late, aren't you?" it said rather lowly.

The group looked at one another before they turned around to find to find an adult man dressed in a black suit with an equally black pair of shades on his face, an intercom on his ear. His look said it all to the group of teens slash Yuna and Stitch.

"Well? Going to answer the question?" he urged.

One might recall him from the night Kyo found his own Stitch, but he wouldn't have known or even seen this person. The real question to everyone here was "who was this guy"? And what exactly did he want?


	5. RESET

**Chapter 5**  
**RESET**

* * *

"_Well? Going to answer the question?"_

After a day of being introduced to the wide, urban city of Kamakura, being stalked down by a man in a suit was not what Kyo, Yuna, Chiro or their respective Stitches, either plush or "Joker"- wanted to be faced with. This man felt like he came from the FBI or something in the same league, though his mannerisms certainly didn't seem so. He seemed... shadier.

"Uhh... Hey! Did we do anything wrong, dude?" Kyo had asked the male, this person's sunglasses masquerading his true intent.

"I've noticed your Stitch plush toy there, the lifelike detail and make of it makes me certainly interested... perhaps it's a little... too real..." he had explained. Chiro tried to find the words, but couldn't come up with anything.

The words "real" and "Stitch" in the same sentence hit a sting with Yuna and Kyozuki especially.

"Dude, my Stitch plush isn't for sale, you know? I know collectors like being die-hards or whatever, but he's simply not for sale!" Kyo exclaimed, protecting his own Stitch "plush" in his arms.

Kyo had been through enough of a journey with his fellow Stitch already. They were true blue "ohana", no way no how would a suit standing here ominously in a Kamakuran night split the two up...

"Then what about the other one here?" this male continued.

"Other one?!" Chiro exclaimed, masking the fact she knew of both Stitches so easily.

Yuna instantaneously came to arms- she knew exactly what "other one" he was talking about, but she also knew she didn't want to blow her cover.

"Hey, if you're talking about Joker, leave my good bro alone! He's got no beef with you... whoever you are!"

The man's manners dropped at that moment- "Drop the act right now... clearly you don't know what you're dealing with here..."

Yuna and Kyo looked at one another in anxious way. This black suited adult called them out of the blue so easily?

Even if he did, Yuna didn't care, putting on her ordinary voice. "Okay, fine! But you're not taking anybody here! Or at least, not without a fight!" she said, taking up a karate kata after with the raise of her palm.

The man didn't react to this move of Yuna's to try and defend her friend.

"Well... I didn't expect this. But I suppose it's nothing we can't handle..." He snapped his fingers following this.

It was at that moment, smoke bombs dropped around the group, spreading a layer of thick gray smoke around the street area. In the midst of this, Kyo, Chiro and Yuna all coughed away, trying to see what was going on in the dark. All they could hear was the hiss of this fog and one minor detail that was drowned out by the obnoxious hiss...

By the time the smoke had cleared, the group looked around and immediately noticed one thing missing- "Joker". Yuna's Stitch was gone, vanished into thin air!

Yuna gasped at the sight of this- "No! You give him back this instant or I'll make you, you jerk!" she dashed forward, trying to pummel him a new one, but Kyozuki and Chiro had restrained her well.

"Let go of me! Let go!" Yuna growled to Chiro and Kyo relentless in her attempt to pry free, looking to the man still standing there amidst the anger.

"One of them had to be ours, you know? One of them crashed a few days ago and it couldn't have been sheer coincidence that reality would collide with fantasy. Try as you may, girl... but your alien friend belongs to P.S.Y.C.H. Pleasure doing business with you," this man explained before turning around and walking away down the street in casual form.

Not only did he show up out of the blue, but he stole Yuna's Stitch after the entire day was going so well.

Yuna thrashed about in the duo's hands, the girl's rage not subsiding in any way. All the while, Kyo held her and his own Stitch like the toy he was meant to be in public.

"Yuna, there's nothing we can do! Calm down!"

"NO! Stitch told me never to leave him behind and I'm not gonna do that! Not even now!"

Kyo and Yuna argued and argued, the younger soul wanting to give chase and show this suited adult something else.

Chiro on the other hand smiled to herself. Kyo and especially the angry Yuna caught wind of this out of left field move.

"Chiro, why are you smiling like that? Now's not the time for this!"

"Yeah, my "ohana" just got kidnapped and all you can do is smile!?"

Chiro's smile later turned to a chuckle, then to a hysterical laugh. Yuna and Kyo looked incredibly confused, looking to one another and then back up front at Chiro's odd move. Did this incident just turn this fangirl mentally insane?

Kyo piped up, though you could tell his stress on the whole situation was getting to the mellow teen.

"Chiro! We don't have time for this..."

Chiro finally piped up after this. "Ohh... you know, we aren't _really_ leaving Stitch behind... not when good ol' Chiro Yokoi here knows who that sharp dressed bully was!"

Kyo and Yuna's response to the fangirl Chiro's answer were very simple, downright done in unison...

"Hold up! You know that guy!?"

* * *

"His name is Mr. Crux, sorta the city's resident kook on aliens, you know?" Chiro explained.

Back at the Yamada home and inside Kyo's room after his Uncle had went to bed, Kyo and Yuna sat on their knees, listening to Chiro elaborate herself on the mysterious man who encountered them and took "Joker" or Yuna's Stitch with relative ease.

"Mister... Crux?" Yuna asked, not even changing out of her "Flo" disguise upon returning. Chiro had to explain more.

"Mr. Crux was known around here as being in cahoots with Detective Shinichi Ogadaiwa. Ogadaiwa _hated_ our flash mobs and would always try and find any way possible to shut them down, but he was just a bumbling inspector, nothing too important. However, if anything weird were to happen, he'd call Mr. Crux in to investigate. Of course, you remember what happened a few nights ago, right?"

"That was when my Stitch arrived... wrecked up the Edoshima Electrical! They're still fixing that up after what happened," Kyo explained.

Kyo's Stitch, knowing he was in privacy, spoke timidly- "Meega... caused harm?"

"What? Oh, no no! Dude, you never meant to do that... It was all one big accident, you know?" Kyo told his Experiment kindly.

Luckily, Kyozuki had such a link with his Stitch that it was certainly easy to try and quell him down when he got upset. And knowing how uneasy his Stitch was, it was a blessing this would happen.

"Right! Stitch arrives in Kamakura! News flash, the Edoshima Electrical is thrown off the trail and undergoes repairs! Meanwhile, brave teenage soul Kyozuki Yamada goes in and-"

"CHIRO! I appreciate the fun commentary, but get on with this, dude?"

"Oh... yeah, sorry!" Chiro chuckled nervously, after Kyo had cut in. She continued after.

"Anyways, back to Crux! See, Crux is linked to a crazy alien agency here in Kamakura called P.S.Y.C.H! Otherwise known as the Planetary Soldiers for Your Chosen Hope"

Yuna cut in- "Seriously? _That's_ their name? They could've found a better one, you know? Like A.S.T.R.A.L or S.T.A.R.S or something like that..."

"I know, Yuna, I know... their agency name isn't the best, but that's not what's important here..." Chiro had paused after.

"Crux became obsessed with aliens, and lemme tell you- he was never really a fan of them. He wanted to try and purge any extra-terrestrials from entering Kamakura. From what I gathered from my Dad, who serves him every other day at our bread shop, he captures these aliens so he can put them in their place. Heck, there was rumors years ago that one alien that entered the city, an enormously powerful one at that- got tortured to the point of no return! Nobody's ever heard anything on that alien since it was brought into P.S.Y.C.H HQ!"

Yuna immediately looked shifty-eyed after this- "How the heck do you know all this? Wouldn't all this be classified information to some kinda super-secret alien agency like this one?"

Chiro simply giggled- "Let's just say Mr. Crux dropped one of his P.S.Y.C.H documents one time. My Dad was about to give it back to him, but he didn't turn back around! Poor dude simply forgot about it! Dad told me about it and told me to keep it a secret, so... here I am telling you guys after what happened!"

Kyo asked another question- "What about a real name? Does Mr. Crux at least have one of those, Chiro?"

"Yeah, he does... Dad knew him from school and he went under the name of Jonathan Pride. He always got the name "Pride Rock" from my Dad back when he was younger, but nowadays, knowing he's with P.S.Y.C.H was an entirely different story, dudes..."

Kyo looked to himself after taking all this news of the alien agency in.

One last question dawned upon his head- "Hey, Chiro? If you know so much about this alien agency...what about their secret base? Do they have one?"

Chiro immediately nodded- "It's not _that_ much of a secret base... it's Kotokan Tower! Their secret document Dad found by accident actually made the mistake of listing their location in geometrical numbers and after entering it in on my phone one time, it amounted out to Kotokan"

"Hold on, Kotokan Tower? Isn't that that crazy big radio tower off in the distance of the city, Kyo?" Yuna perked up, reflecting on the Kamakuran tour she went on earlier in the day.

"Dang! Good eye, Yuna! Yes, that's Kotokan Tower... and what a weird place to be throwing secret bases into..."

Kyo thought for a moment before making his mind up, him and Chiro exchanging their words. "Well... if they're in Kotokan Tower, then it's settled. We march in there and get Yuna's Stitch back before the worst happens!"

"Would they even be open at this hour?"

"Oh yeah, totally, dude! It's just the reception desks that would be off-duty!"

"Well- in that case, what's the worst that could happen? They can't revert him back to pod form!"

As soon as Chiro said that, Yuna stepped in- "I know what the worst is!"

She slid her hand into her disguise's blue shorts. From out of the pocket, she took out her Good Deed Memory and pressed a few of the buttons on it, ending with the yellow star button. The display showed a counter sitting at "23" atop a Stitch head, its background akin to Yuna's trademark Okinawan floral shirt.

"The worst is if this Crux guy takes off Stitch's Good Deed Counter! You see that "23" there? If he takes it off, that's it! We have to start back from square one!"

Kyo nodded at this dedication of hers. Having watched the TV shows and movies his "idol" Yuna came from before she arrived, he knew quite well that the deeds were important. Of course, he couldn't promise to her they'd get there before the device was off Stitch's hand, but he knew what he had to say.

"Well, there's no time to waste. It's either we head to Kotokan Tower or worse things happen to our friend Stitch... and believe me, I wouldn't want the worst for your "ohana", Yuna..."

Yuna smiled and nodded with him, the group all getting up and putting their hands in the middle over top of one another before they all chanted one big hearty call...

"One! Two! Three! Four! Here we come to settle the score! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Bring him 'round before it's too late!"

* * *

Kotokan Tower stood tall like the Eiffel Tower would in Paris through the Kamakuran cityline, its lights around the metal build of the tower fitting in like another tower in Tokyo would've.

Set near the far-northern edge of the city, it was the center of the telecommunications grid for not just the TV in Kamakura, but radio and phones. Even cell phones, like Kyo's Disney Mobile for example, were powered by this distant icon...

As night seemed to linger, the Astral Jumpers made no hindrance to hide here as well, hanging around the beams of the building and nearby a fellow dumpster that not just the Kotokan staff, but that of the assumed P.S.Y.C.H would've used often.

For some reason, the Astral Jumpers (after the scare down at the Kamakura Dock) scoured through the trash for anything noteworthy while Yai schemed. This was a rarity since the two worked as a duo, but for an instance like this, it didn't matter.

"Have you found anything in that pile worth salvaging for our own use, Kyohaku?" Yai asked.

Kyohaku shook his head, tossing away object after object in his search through this dumpster. From food wrappers to pencil sharpeners to other unmentionables, they were finding nothing worthy of their use. It was all office unusuables.

The reason they were looking so much into the garbage is because of Yaiko herself. See, Yai always had the tendency to tinker in her life and always strived to invent new things out of recycled remains.

As proven when Kyohaku and her first met, Yai had invented the card-reading mechanism on her arm and on Kyohaku's arm, all the same as the red crystals atop their devices. Certainly, her inventions proved to be innovative for the greater good, but there was always the catch- a criminal was inventing these things and not that of your usual scientist.

"Guh! The smell's not only getting to me, Kyohaku- but I can't handle this anymore! If we really wanted to invent something new in our prodigious rebellion against the Federation, we might as well have headed back to the Akostas Junkyard!" Yai gruffly said, boasting the Astral Jumpers' own accomplishments.

Kyohaku Stitch had no interjections this time- then again, he was searching through trash. "But we naga have moved from this place though since tay arrived here to get away from those mooks at Galassia Grano..."

"Yes, yes... I know..." Yai had said, giving a tired yawn afterwards.

From being spotted once by "the girl from the Tri-Rune" to their hobbling around the Kamakuran city, Yaiko was getting sleepy from the excitement of today. And while she was a powerful mind of her own- there was the fact that she was still a human being and a young one at that.

The other Stitch took notice of this. "Tay think we should hide and rest for tonight, Yai?"

"As much as I'd want to say "no"... if I keep standing around here, I'm gonna fall asleep as is, so... yeah, I think we should pack it up for tonight... my apologies, I just don't wanna end up sleeping on you, Kyohaku," Yai had agreed. She followed that up with a mutter of "mataku", a Japanese word she had used often in her tribulations...

Kyohaku Stitch closed up the dumpster nearby as Yai had wandered ahead, heading for a backwater alley in the Kamakuran streets. She knew it would've been another harsh night of trying to sleep for the two... however, something caught his eye among the clatter of something coming down Kotokan Tower's pipe work...

Laying there near the far left column of the tower, nearby the dumpster they were searching for, a tiny object had landed on the ground onto the concrete. Kyohaku Stitch hobbled closer and closer to the column and picked this minuscule object between his two fingers curiously.

In his left hand, he held what looked like a tiny sphere of blue and red color mixed together. Its colors were faded, but clearly visible. As the Stitch doppelganger inspected this, the numbers "000" were written on the front. He could have sworn he had seen this object before somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Kyohaku typed in a few co-ordinates into the stolen prototype UGF technology sitting on his arm, wondering if he could match the signature that this object had to it. "04-08-15-16", "06-18-20-12", "06-26-20-17", the list went on and on through Kyohaku's large list of co-ordinates until he stopped at "03-26-10-15", his claw aglow per the normal blues it accompanied.

Yai barged into his moment of inspection, pushing him along with the sound of her voice- "Kyohaku! I'm not gonna be standing around all night! If you want me to do that, I'll go sleep by myself!"

"One sec! Sokka!" Kyohaku called back.

He decided his searches had turned nothing, so he decided to chuck away the "000" sphere from the Kotokan Tower and run off to the opposite Astral Jumper.

What Kyohaku Stitch hadn't noticed was during his running to catch up to Yai and retire for the night, his prototype claw cut a small crack into a dimensional passage and his toss of the "000" sphere had sent the small ball careening into this portal, itself closing upon the ball's entry into it.

The Variated Experiment was very intelligent and critical, yes- much like the original Experiment 626, but this mistake slipped by his person. Wherever this tiny ball of unknown identity was headed had the numbers "03-26-10-15" attached to its intergalactic co-ordinates, but where that was in relation to Kamakura's universe or even beyond? Where wasn't clear at the moment.

Kyohaku looked back a moment to double check if anything bad had happened with his leave, but found nothing but the trash bin and the ordinary columns of Kotokan Tower, not even the remain of the accidental portal. After that, he cocked his head forward and left with Yaiko into a hidden alleyway between two close-by Kamakuran shops, hoping to find a place for the young yet notorious one.

Despite their effort for a night's rest, the real question that lied on Kyohaku Stitch's mind was "just what was that ball"? Was it fate that this weird spherical object came down from Kotokan Tower? Or was it something else completely...

* * *

Some time after the Jumpers had left, Yuna, Kyo and Chiro ran to the Kotokan Tower, looking up at the building's towering self over that of Kamakura as the night drew close to the midnight hour. Kyo didn't bring his own Stitch with him, in the worry that Mr. Crux would take him too if he wasn't careful enough.

Of course, worry aside, the reason the group was here was to get back Yuna's loyal "ohana" Stitch from the hand of an organization of bad intent.

"Well, here we are... where'd the P.S.Y.C.H base be then?" Yuna asked, fixing the bubbly hat atop her head and keeping her pigtails down with her "Flo" disguise.

"Well, first we gotta go inside, dudes... right?" Kyo said, the others nodding in agreement as they entered the Kotokan Tower.

The inside of the building looked high-class, white being the dominant color of the room. Oddly, there was no receptionist there present at the front desk.

"Hey, how 'bout that? Kyo was right. Nobody's here..." Chiro said.

A lucky occurrence for the group. Taking this opportunity, Kyo and his two friends ran across the way down the hall right of them to an elevator before any security managed to come around the corner.

Inside the elevator, Yuna looked to the nearby keypad, wondering which of the 9 numerical buttons would've took the elevator down as opposed to up all as Kyo bobbed his head to the techno music playing in the elevator (not his own for once).

"Hey, Chiro- you think you know which buttons would bring this down too?"

"Yeah, you're kinda our key to finding this odd job agency!"

Chiro scanned the keypad up and down and pressed the buttons for Floor 6, Floor 2, and Floor 6 again in that order. A ding resounded after that, the elevator starting on its descent downward.

Kyo raised a brow at the results, Chiro smiling at this- "626? Seriously? Is that saying Mr. Pride's some kind of a Stitch fan too, 'cuz I never got that vibe from him!"

"Well... think about it. Kamakura _loves_ Stitch. I don't think he'd peg anyone to press the number six twice in an elevator though, especially in such a combination."

Yuna shrugged. "Whatever, at least we're getting a move on..."

The elevator took slow time going down. Yuna's impatience was getting the best of her as she tapped her foot much the same as Kyo bobbed his head to this "elevator techno".

"I just hope we're not too late though..." Yuna said, checking her Good Deed Memory once more to see if their dash to the tower didn't dash their chances to save her and Stitch's progress towards the Spiritual Stone...

However, the sight she saw on the Memory's display wasn't one she wanted to see, her expression looking downright crushed.

"Yuna? Dude, what's the matter?" Chiro asked.

"0". That was the number that popped up on the Good Deed Memory display showing Stitch's Good Deed Counter count. There was only one explanation for this- Mr. Crux took off Stitch's Counter in his doings. What's worse is that Jumba had only invented the Counter for it to stay on Stitch's hand, not off.

Yuna fell to her knees after seeing this, gravely disappointed.

"It's over... He took off the Counter, we've gotta start back from "0" again..." she said, stuffing away the Good Deed Memory into her shorts' pocket once again...

Yuna balled her hand into a fist, her disappointment being replaced with rage. Kyo grew uneasy hearing her growling grow louder and louder in that moment.

"That's it!" she got herself off the elevator floor. "Nobody steals Stitch and sets us back days of deeds and gets away with it! This Mr. Crux guy's crossed the line and that's _not_ one line you want to cross with Yuna Kamihara!"

One could easily tell the blackbelt meant business.

Kyo, on the other hand- didn't want Yuna to do something she'd regret later. So he instantly grabbed Yuna by her shoulders.

"Yuna... I know it sucks you guys have to start over from the beginning, but-"

"But what, Kyo?!"

"Yuna, for crying out loud, listen! Would you want it to be Stitch gone instead of the deeds?!"

Yuna stopped in place, Kyo's shout at her cutting through her thick skin.

"Kyo..."

"Look... I'm sorry for yelling, clearly having your Stitch stolen over mine's been stressful on me-"

Yuna shook her head, her eyes hanging low after- "No, no, it's not that... you're right, Kyozuki. I shouldn't be worried about those deeds right now... I should be more worried about Stitch. We're "Ichariba Ohana", always have and always will. And that means putting him over one more deed reset... you saying that is what I should've done in the first place..."

Kyozuki smiled at her, patting the bubbly hat Yuna wore as part of her "Flo" disguise. He thought that with Yuna's headstrong nature, things would escalate to worse standing, but luckily it wasn't so.

"Somehow, I knew with the right words, it'd crack that shell of yours, dudette," Yuna nodding at him with a smile coming around.

"Well, I dunno about any shell, but... you definitely know the words to turn things around, Kyo," she chuckled after.

A ding resounded in the elevator between the three, it stopping its descent equally.

"Guess this means we're at our stop. P.S.Y.C.H HQ..." Chiro said.

Yuna and Kyo nodded at one another as they turned around, preparing themselves for what lied ahead in the headquarters of this alien agency...

Yuna said some confident words in response- "Hold on, Stitch... we're coming..."

As soon as the doors of the elevator opened, the trio ran down the way, their feet going along that of a checkerboard floor as they trekked forward. The hall they continued down wasn't long, but it was more the adrenaline of getting their friend back that made this feel more intense than it already did.

The doors to the hidden headquarters burst open, Kyo, Chiro and Yuna standing where the doors had flung.

"Alright, Mr. Crux! Gig is up, dude!" Kyo called out to the lair.

"Yeah! Give us Stitch back!" Chiro followed after Kyo did.

P.S.Y.C.H's home base looked like a normal office space, computers and desks around the area in evenly fashion. The only things that served to throw that seemingly normal look into a U-turn was that of what was written on whiteboards in the room, that being algebraic formulas, algorhythms and complex figures all pointing towards that of alien life in the stars.

What was more to this was a tube-like incubator in the center of the room, a pile of clothes meant to be the "Joker" disguise nearby alongside the golden Good Deed Counter. Yet inside of the tube was the blue Experiment, sensors attached all over his body. He looked weak, hurt from the sensors attached to him, like they were shock emitters. Of course, standing before the tube with his back turned was the suited man himself- Mr. Crux.

He heard the calls of Chiro and Kyo and turned around, unphased by their tones.

"Well... you sure know how to make an entrance... how'd you all get clearance into here?" he questioned.

Yuna jumped right in, throwing aside the usual chance to disguise her voice- "That doesn't matter! You know why we're here!"

The Experiment inside of the tube hunched up slowly to see who that was from afar, his sensitive ears picking up on familiar voices. "Y- Yuna..." her Stitch muttered out of his pain.

"...Well, you found your alien, or should I say one of the two I know your group has. I must say, I'm impressed with his strength, he's lasted longer than other test specimens P.S.Y.C.H has picked up," Crux explained.

"He's no test specimen! He's a living, breathing being like the rest of us, dude! The more you hurt him, the worse he's going to get!" Kyo yelled.

Mr. Crux reached for the button to the tube behind him.

"I'd feel lucky our usual enforcers are off-duty, among those one who retrieved this alien a few hours ago. The equipment they carry around would make short of work of your efforts... of course, you're a bunch of young children, maybe excessive force wouldn't be necessary," the P.S.Y.C.H head laughing after.

Yuna wasn't having any of it. She swiftly punched Mr. Crux across the face as he was caught off guard, channelling into that blackbelt of hers for an instant.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- Yuna!" Kyo exclaimed.

With Crux on his feet, she glared down at him.

"I don't think you know we're just more than "some kids"! We're a _lot_ more than that... And what you've done is set us back some, especially me..."

Kyo and Chiro looked to her for a moment, thinking she was going back on what she said, especially after the karate punch.

Yuna continued. "However... what you've set us back isn't what I'm concerned about. I'm more concerned with my best friend... Stitch. My "ohana" sits there in that tube as you torture him! And if you don't let him go, that torture's gonna kill him! You can't just go around killing aliens like this, especially when they've got a good heart!"

Mr. Crux rebutted right back to Yuna- "You forget these are extra-terrestrials we're talking about here. They're the unknown. They deserve this treatment, especially those that could potentially destroy things like our first test specimen was going to. And how can you go around becoming friends with them? The real world is dangerous, threatening even! You think you're doing a favor making friends with these monsters when in reality, when you're not looking, they could be calling in an invasion!"

Yuna was about to open her mouth and argue back when Kyo spoke up, stepping forward, lightly pushing Yuna back.

"You're wrong... You're dead wrong, Jonathan!" he said, Mr. Crux surprised Kyozuki called him by his real name (just as Chiro told Kyo)- Jonathan Pride.

"Aliens aren't always meant to be specimens locked up for you to test on. Nor do they deserve to be hated! If you've done your so-called research... Not all of them can be bad. Look at Stitch in there. Have you ever watched the original movies or the TV shows he starred in, dude? I don't care if you're too old for cartoons, that was proof that "aliens can't all be bad". And if they are, they can learn all the same as we can. With our help, aliens won't always against us... no, they'll be with us, fighting on our side when danger comes! But if people like you keep hurting them, then what does that make us? A bunch of savages! And Kamakurans aren't meant to be savages!"

Kyo stopped a moment in his words to Jonathan. He knew there was a risk his words would or wouldn't make a difference.

"You keep this up and no alien would want to stop by Earth! No alien would want to fight for us because people like your agency will be there with their technology to kill them all the same! Not even if there was a Galactic Federation out there! You don't want that on your conscience, do you? The lives of aliens in pain when all they want to do is learn of our cultures, our media and furthermore... ourselves, dude?"

Kyo panted loudly after the speech he made, turning around. "But what good is it? You've been like this since that alien from before came down... and you tortured it to no return... If that's the case... there's no swaying you..."

Kyo wiped his eyes after taking his glasses off a moment, a few tears forming at his eyes. You couldn't see it through his shades, but Jonathan was impressed with the Kamakuran teen...

"Kid... how did you find out of all of this?" Jonathan asked.

Chiro spoke up truthfully- "With all due respect, sir... it was me. You left a piece of your agency in our bread shop one day. Never came back for it either, so we kept everything a secret until tonight when I told Kyo and "Flo" here. Don't worry, no one else knows..."

Yuna took off her bubbly hat for a moment, since it seemed like everyone was telling the truth and there was no use hiding. "Actually... it's not "Flo", it's Yuna. Apparently, TV's gone and made me a celebrity here, so I've been trying to keep things secret while I'm here, you know? Don't ask why me and my Stitch are here, it's a long story."

More and more, Jonathan seemed to take all of this in. He got up off his feet and walked over to the tube a moment, showing nary an emotion to the group of friends.

That was until he entered the code into the tube to open the glass and grabbed Yuna's Stitch, ripping him from the sensors.

Chiro looked surprised- "Jonathan?"

He walked over to Yuna, handing her her Experiment back to its rightful owner. Yuna quickly hugged Stitch and held him close to her, patting his back as he weakly returned the favor.

"Yuna... tay oki-"

"Hey... don't strain yourself, go ahead and rest... you're safe."

Jonathan looked to Yuna and gave a nod to her- "Nice hook. I was expecting your karate punches to be hard from that one episode I saw during one of my lunch breaks... and I can safely say I wasn't wrong. My rib's still stinging from that one..."

Yuna looked on, in awe that this man just complimented her master karate skills.

Jonathan took off his shades, revealing a set of hazel eyes to match his short hair. He then walked over to Kyo as Yuna grabbed up the rest of her Stitch's disguise.

"Kid... I was like you once. Full of energy and believing in the good of everything. That includes aliens not being of impure mind. And then there's me... who went so far against it after one cursed night that I forgot the one thing that made the universe so unique... You know, you've got courage to be standing up to me like that. And it takes a lot more to keep the secrets you have been keeping, between Yuna Kamihara and both of the aliens you've had hidden..."

"What? What are you... getting at, dude?"

"What I'm getting at is... you've convinced me," Jonathan said, tapping the intercom he had on his ear.

"To all of P.S.Y.C.H, this is Mr. Crux... I'd like to inform you all when you get this message that P.S.Y.C.H will be undergoing some changes within the agency. Any and all violence-based rulings against aliens underway will be rewritten and revised. Furthermore, this agency will be changing its "chosen hope" to overlook any and all alien kind that enters Earth over capturing it," he paused, letting the news sink in to his staff.

"More will come in the morning. And finally, I'd like for you abolish of my nickname... Mr. Crux is no more. Call me Jonathan."

He paused in the middle of his message for a moment- "After all, Jonathan's my name... that is all, members of P.S.Y.C.H... Jonathan out..."

"W- Whoa... are you saying P.S.Y.C.H just pulled a complete 360 tonight because of us?" Chiro asked as soon as Jonathan took his fingers off the intercom.

"The phrase "we've got nothing to hide anymore" comes to mind..." Jonathan said, looking at Kyo.

"Kid... you're doing the universe a favor with that outlook in life. I only wish I hadn't gone and thought aliens were always meant to be evil monsters years ago when the first one entered our office... let alone left that one document in Yokoi Breads, but I suppose I have your friend here to thank for keeping it so secret..."

Kyo looked up, wiping the light tears from his eyes and meeting Jonathan's own. "Dude... you don't have to regret anything in the then... you've changed in the now, right?"

Jonathan Pride nodded- "It's better to be brought back into the light by mistakes... rather than dwell upon them and further depress yourself down the road. For the record, kid... I do dabble into Stitch once in a blue moon. And I'm more than impressed that you managed to get to him before we did... heaven knows if it was the old us back there, that poor blue soul you have would be in far different standing..."

Kyo smiled at him saying this, knowing his efforts in finding Stitch weren't in vain.

"Do both of you kids have names? Just so I know I'm talking to human beings here?" Jonathan asked the group, Yuna aside.

The two Kamakuran teenagers replied.

"Chiro Yokoi."

"Kyozuki Yamada, dude- call me Kyo."

Jonathan looked at the two with a honest smile.

"Never forget your roles in life, Kyo and Chiro. You've shown tonight you're braver than you think standing up to a what-used-to-be corrupt alien agency..."

"Heh, thanks! Though... I feel like something worse could be coming," Kyo said, his tone changing. Chiro smiled, though she knew she wasn't necessarily as brave as she wanted to be.

Jonathan looked sternly at the mention of "worse", he remembered what happened a few nights back- the screeching, the interruption over all matter of Earth technology in Kamakura and of course, the call of wanting a certain "Experiment 626" by an unknown yet alien species.

"I know exactly what you're getting at, that incredibly noisy interruption of all technology in the city the other day, correct? I thought it was some marketing stunt, personally... While I don't think we can analyze it given how widespread the effect is, but we'll try to see if we can gather anything out of it beyond what the being has to say..."

Kyo was curious though- "How are we gonna keep in touch, Jonathan? Especially if anything uncool happens the next while involving whoever wants Stitch... or in case you, you know, wanna catch up sometime over coffee or whatever your poison is."

Jonathan was right on the case, handing both Chiro and Kyo personal business cards with his phone number on them.

"Heh... I don't think you'll be inviting me to coffee with my schedule, but just keep these handy, you two," he paused, then looked over to Yuna and Stitch near the urban Kamakuran kids.

"And don't worry... your secret's going to remain safe with me... I promise."

Yuna gave her nod back with a smile, fixing her hat and her pigtails for her "Flo" disguise as she held Stitch.

She held a pinky finger up as if she knew he was going to promise her that. "Don't worry, we know you won't blab us out to the world!"

Yuna's mind dawned on something else though- "Wait... if we came down here like this, how the heck are we gonna get back out? Isn't there security in Kotokan Tower?"

Jonathan chuckled a laugh through his rough voice. "Oh, leave that to me... Yuna, get your friend into his ruse and I'll lead you out. Besides... it's getting rather late for young souls like yourself to be up."

Seemed like Jonathan knew strings he pulled as to how he got in and out of Kotokan Tower. In one night after mistakes of the past came to bite back, him and his agency were turned around by a bunch of kids who knew the good in anyone, even extra-terrestrials. Jonathan Pride knew in his heart he'd be seeing more of these kids, even the Izayoi Island celebrities...

* * *

Back home at Kyo's house, the clock struck 1 in the morning. And Kyo's Stitch heard the group return with his ears perking, worried as soon as Kyo and Yuna came back in, her own Stitch dressed in his disguise in her arms.

"Kyozuki... Yuna... tay came back..." the Experiment timidly murmured as Chiro slid the door shut behind them.

Chiro already figured out she was gonna be sleeping over in the Yamada place, going against her original plan of heading home. After all, her father trusted her with Kyo.

"Of course we're back, dude... we even brought back other "yuuga" too. Wasn't like a life or death mission," Kyo explained.

Yuna set her Stitch on the mattress Haka laid for them to sleep on nearby, the Experiment having fallen asleep on the walk home. His snoring would've been like Yuna's, had she not still been awake.

She smiled to him for a moment- "Kinda funny he fell asleep so fast after that much punishment..."

"Kiddin' me? Stitch takes a _lot_ of punishment in his time, Yuna... I'm sure that's common knowledge to you though, dude..." Kyo retorted, looking a little off.

Yuna immediately caught wind of his off look, as did Chiro.

"Kyo? Is something up? You don't look... happy to be back home after what happened," Yuna asked him, taking off her bubble hat and allowing her pigtails to shoot back up to her usual.

Kyo sighed, something was clearly on the teenage mind. "I'm... glad we were able to come back home like this, but... that whole time... I was so worried we were going to lose your Stitch..."

"But we didn't lose him! He's right here... little on the sleepy side, yeah- but here! So, why's that got you so worried, Kyo?" she asked, trying to reassure her down friend.

Kyo looked back to Yuna and Chiro, whom were both concerned for him in their own ways.

"Because... I was worried you'd end up losing Stitch like I lost... my Dad..."

Yuna and Chiro looked at each other in shock, though Yuna was the first to speak up.

Yuna remembered how hesitant he was to talk about any other parents but his Uncle Haka. "Your Dad? You... lost your Dad? How, Kyo?"

Kyo sighed, tearing up as he had to explain himself. "He got sick a while ago with a disease that baffled doctors... and then fell into a coma. What's worse is he's been stuck in that coma years up to now. You don't know how it feels to stop by Kazuka Hospital every week to see if his condition improves only to find out it hasn't! Every time, it's "we're sorry, Kyozuki- your father's still sick! Y- You can always try again next week!"

Kyo covered his eyes and sniffed in his tears, the poor soul in a rare sorrow. Clearly this was something he never wanted to tell anyone, something a mellow and laidback soul like him shouldn't be having to hide given the circumstance. But he had it hidden on his person, like a weight on his heart.

Chiro, as Kyo's close friend, spoke up. "Why didn't you tell me or Yuna though, Kyo? You know we'd be able to help you through anything, dude... why keep it a secret for so long?"

"Because I didn't want to have you two worried... I didn't want to have the pity or the woe from you guys and I especially didn't wanna drop that load onto you when it was my burden to carry..." Kyo said, wiping his eyes.

Chiro looked worried, putting a hand on Kyo's left shoulder. "Kyo... I know you've had your Uncle to look after you since your Dad went into the hospital... but remember, me and my Dad are always around for you if you feel like this. Yamadas and Yokois, remember?"

It was then that someone put a hand on his right shoulder. One look over from Kyo revealed that to be Yuna.

"And you don't have to hide or run away from your problems... I know how it feels to have one of your parents up and leave your life entirely..." she said, looking away in disappointment.

"You don't mean... your Mom, do you?" Kyo asked her.

Yuna nodded to herself, the thought stung.

Back when, Yuna's Mom died in a freak typhoon on a boat back to Izayoi Island, oddly along with a photo album of her Mom's own. This meant when she was younger, it was just her grandparents and her Dad looking after the young Kamihara. And we know what ended up happening to her Dad, work taking over his life...

However, Yuna didn't let this get her down. While the memory managed to rear its head sometimes, she had already gotten past the death of her Mom years ago and she wasn't going to let it get her down now.

"That's why I want you to know that you can trust me with anything, Kyo. I'm here for you... 'cuz that's what "ohana" does, right? Stitch always told me that "ohana" is there for each other..." she said.

Kyo nodded with her, knowing his "idols" well enough to know they would say something like that.

"Ichariba Chodei, right?"

"Right... I- Ichariba Chodei..." Yuna and Kyo said to one another.

A tug at Kyo's usual floral shirt came after all the drama. Kyo's own version of Experiment 626 was left standing there curiously as both Yuna and Chiro helped quell the mellow teen's emotions.

"Kyo... issa Dad... important to tay?" he asked. Kyo gazed at his own Stitch.

"Why... of course, he's important to me. He's my Dad, he raised me! He was the one who did so much for me in my life after I was born. He got my surfboard, he taught me how to surf as masterfully as I do, he taught me how to drown out whatever bullies thought! He... meant so much to me that watching him go into the hospital and never come back out still makes me feel terrible, dude..."

Kyo's Stitch nodded understandingly at what he had said about his own father, raising his hand to Kyo.

"Then... meega will help Dad. Naga know how, but... meega will," his Experiment said with a smile looking to help the teenage surfer all the same as Kyo had done for him.

Kyo did one better to the Experiment, hugging him much to his Stitch's surprise.

"You're helping already, dude," he said. He then looked to Yuna and Chiro after with a returning smile.

"In fact, you're all helping me. And I'm glad I have you guys and my Uncle Haka to help me out of this slump. I just hope someday... that my Dad can wake up from his coma, dudes..."

Yuna gave a meaningful smile to Kyo- "Maybe sometime he will, huh? Never say never!"

Kyo had to grin back with Yuna's optimism, Chiro smiling at her close friend's recovery.

"Right. Never say never. Very good advice, Yuna! Heh!"

Of course, the sentimental moment they were having had to be cut in by a myriad of flickering and phasing that affected the Earth technology around the house. The computer screen in Kyo's room, even though it was turned off began acting up too, turning on and glitching out of control. This was only partnered with a familiar and loud screech that struck the city's electronics all the same, deafening as ever. Everyone save Yuna's Stitch covered their ears, the loudness coming back as it lingered into Kamakura's city again.

"W- What _is _that racket!?" Chiro yelled over the static noise emanating from the inner city.

Yuna yelled all the same, remembering what happened last time- "I think I know what! And it's not something I wanted to rear its head right now!"

The group looked over to Kyo's computer screen, as the slender spire-headed figure appeared yet again over the signals of Earth's technology, the sound cutting down to just static. It was obvious he had something to say to all of Kamakura at this ungodly hour...

"_Greetings citizens of... Ka... makur... ah? No matter. It has come to my attention that that thing we've kept an eye on last time has somehow multiplied. Either you are hiding two Experiment 626es or you have cloned him for your own personal use... I asked you before to contact me with this monstrosity before we landed. Now I'm going to have to alter the deal... send me one of these creatures, the REAL one of these 626es... and your planet will be spared. But if you do not give me either... then your fate is sealed and you will incur our wrath. Mass destruction will sweep your Earth cities like nothing before it. Never forget this... we'll be watching you... and you will know our cause soon..."_

After he faded from the static imagery, Earth's devices returned back to normal, the noises that were made during the abnormal activity quelling. As Kyo's Stitch began to growl again, recalling the figure once more- Kyo looked to Yuna shocked at what it said.

"D- Did... he just figure out there was two Stitches on Earth?" Kyo asked.

Yuna nodded alike the first time- "Uh-huh... though... I hope that he was just counting one of those plushies in the store and not mine..."

Chiro looked just as shocked as the others having seen this interruption for the first time, as last time she had only heard the deafening noise- "If neither you know what that is... then we've got aliens coming our way from the looks of it."

Kyo retorted back to Chiro with a chuckle- "Ya think, Chiro? I don't know what he wants, but that's the second time! I certainly hope there's some kinda Galactic Federation where we live that can take this guy before he makes it to Earth..."

"Yeah, dude... if Stitch is here, there has to be a Federation out there, right?"

That moment, Kyo's Stitch's eyes perked up at the mention of "Galactic Federation". He remembered something about the Federation, but it wasn't fully pieced together in his mind.

Before he could spit out the words though, Yuna gave a big yawn. "I... I dunno about you guys, but we should be getting some sleep..." she said.

Kyo agreed. "Yeah, we should be hitting the hay, dudes... this is _way _late for us, especially with our heck of a day..."

Kyo was right. It had already been a wild day for the group between the Kamakuran tour Yuna and Stitch were on, the conundrum with P.S.Y.C.H (and ultimately turning the agency around for the greater good) and one more of those strange transmissions on top of everything else.

Of course, Kyo's Stitch remembering something would have to wait until tomorrow while the others rested, including Yuna's Stitch who was already tuckered out, old P.S.Y.C.H electro-torturing aside.

Yet while the rest of the team was going to sleep, just what was it that Kyo's Stitch began to recall out of nowhere? Could it be his memories were coming back to him? If it had to deal with the Galactic Federation of this alternate universe, it had to be of importance...


	6. CONFEDERACY

**Chapter 6  
CONFEDERACY**

* * *

Morning struck Kamakura once more as the ever-vigilant group of Yuna, Kyo, Chiro and their Stitches had awoken from what was a crazy night before following an uneventful breakfast.

Previously, they had helped pull the complete 180* of a alien agency out to eliminate any and all extra-terrestrials that have entered into the city of Kamakura. They even gained a new ally in the form of Jonathan Pride, forerunner of the very agency P.S.Y.C.H at that.

As the group wandered about Kyo's home in their respective pajamas (save Chiro, who fell asleep in her usual outfit due to being away from home), their chatter was fairly straightforward between the two Kamakuran urbans and Yuna's own Stitch.

"So, the matter of which I found out of this was never trust Colonel Mustard when playing "Clue"

"Kyo... you're basing that off one incident when we were kids, you know?"

"I know! It's just that kinda stuff lingers well, dude!"

Yuna on the other hand, seemed to notice Kyo's Stitch this fine morning... he had been peculiarly quiet the last few hours and yet nobody figured out why. Walking over to him, she sat down on her knees to talk to the Experiment.

"Hey, you've been awful quiet recently... what's up? Anything on your mind?" she asked.

Kyo's Stitch looked to Yuna for a moment, his beady eyes meeting her brown eyes.

"Meega... naga sure if I should tell. Issa important though..." he said, looking rather perturbed by whatever it was eating his mind.

This was clear that it was something that dawned on him the previous night, yet he kept it to himself due to the others' being tired. Heaven knows he wouldn't be able to tell anyone if they were sleeping, let alone snoring in Yuna's case.

"Guys," Yuna called, "I think Kyo's Stitch has something to say to us."

Kyo and Chiro perked up from their conversation along with Yuna's Stitch.

"Other meega has something, dude?"

"Oh? Well, what's up, Stitch? You don't have to be so secretive, you can tell us," the teens' concern for the Experiment very vocal, much the same as the Izayoi opposite.

Kyo's 626 looked hesitant for a moment, but he swallowed his worry and spat out what he was going to say.

"Tay remembers... mentioning if there was a Galactic Federation last night, ih?" he asked with his usually timid tone.

The rest of the gang all nod at this.

"Yeah, we remember that. We were hoping if there was one, it'd help stop whoever keeps cutting into our Earth tech, dude!"

"Yeah... plus, it'd be a great help on our side, you know? The Federation's always looking out for peace across the galaxy, Stitch told me that!" Kyo and Yuna put their thoughts out there.

"Truth is... there isn't. Issa gone. Naga to exist anymore" Kyo's Stitch said, rubbing his arm in shame.

The others looked utterly shocked at this, thinking this was a jest.

"Heh... you're really a kidder, aren't ya, dude?" Kyo asked.

"But how! How could an entirely peaceful organization be no more like this? I thought the Federation was _huge_!" Yuna followed, more curious on the fact that Kyozuki's own Experiment was saying there wasn't a Galactic Federation anymore within the universe Kamakura resided in.

Kyo's Stitch brought out some kind of orange alien monitor from his third arm, very alike that of a slideshow projector. He set it down on the table where the rest of the still-waking youth watched as he booted it up, a tap from one of the Experiment's faithful claws doing the trick. He sat down near the rest of the group as the image it projected found itself on the nearby kitchen wall.

The image projected was a news report from a much-watched alien channel, which had been hit with a "Breaking News" bulletin on what had happened that time ago. Not many could read it given the Tantalog, but it was what it was. A pink and shapely species began to read from his cards on the incident...

"_This just in! We've received intel from multiple sources on an absolutely brutal attack on the Galactic Federation's headquarters in Turo. What had started off as a peaceful day around the incident quickly degenerated into chaos..."_

The report switched feeds to the remains of a tall structure now in shambles due to some powerful force that massacred the place... its scraps floating around the void of space along with several lifeless alien bodies that helped out the Federation, obviously dead from whatever tore things apart.

The others looked in woe at the remains of what was to be believed as the Galactic Federation's HQ. Yuna and Stitch thought it lucky something like this wouldn't happen in their world, though the damage was still present here. Something had enough force to make short work of the Galactic Federation here in the alternate realm of Kamakura... but what?

_"_The Galactic Federation HQ was devastated today by an unknown source, its power slicing and destroying not only the prominent base of operations for the Federation, but also several spacecraft under license from the UGF. As the organization was under reconstruction due to a sizing down within the intergalactic collective, this attack caused something that could take several millions of Units to fix, had it not been for whom was lost..."__

Sizing down? Surely this gave the hint this version of the UGF wasn't doing as strongly as it would have otherwise in Yuna's realm. Almost like the other side of a mirror, where the Galactic Federation where Yuna came from would have been massive and extended their reach to the galaxy around them, this opposite Federation was going down a slim road.

Though Yuna instantly perked up along with her Stitch at the sound of "whom", already having a clue of "whom" it was.

"Who was lost? You don't mean-!?"

"Naga takabah, gaba ika tasoopa!?"

Before getting to who it was, the report flashed to a short bit of footage from the ensuing destruction before. While it was low quality, the group could make out a single being using some form of incredible power ripping through two spacecraft like it was nothing on a planet's surface before the inevitable fire of an explosion cut off the feed into nothing but static...

"_Before we cover the tragic loss of this dreadful incident, this footage of the ensuing massacre was recovered briefly. It is hard to make out, but we have reason to believe the being who caused this catastrophe was a Chryston. They are known for their incredible psychic powers within the galaxy, but as the footage we have is unfortunately a low quality one from a P.H.O.O.G unit, we're unable to confirm or deny if a Chryston of this power level does exist. Now..."_

"P.H.O.O.G unit? You mean those little flying cameras over at Tokyo Disneyland's Stitch ride?" Kyo asked.

Yuna's Stitch piped up- "Ih. They're real too, bro- they patrol galaxy for UGF."

As the report continued, Yuna and Stitch's suspicions were confirmed. The next thing that flashed across the projection was a picture of the one alien form who would unite all, the Grand Councilwoman, or rather this universe's own version of her. The "tragic loss" that happened was unfortunately hers...

"_The reason we said before it would have took millions of Units if not for the loss is because of who it was who died. Our beloved Grand Councilwoman was caught in the crossfire of this appalling situation and what's more, nobody is looking to take her place. Because of this, not only does this mean the Councilwoman's gone, but the entire Galactic Federation in a single loss of command... We send our regards to the Councilwoman's family in the universe along with those who died in this madness and we only hope that the menace who destroyed this once peaceful organization is brought to justice. This is A-"_

Kyo's Experiment shut off the projector upon the report finishing up and nodded.

"Issa true... whoever wants meega took out the entire Federation in the process... naga takabah," he said.

Chiro looked horrified by this news, considering she, alike the others who were taking the news differently, had grown up knowing the Galactic Federation was a major part of Stitch as a character. She knew as long as they were around, the galaxy would remain safe. But knowing now that Stitch was here and the Federation was not left things far, far different...

Yuna was the first to speak up after seeing the truth of what happened to this world's United Galactic Federation.

"Hey, hold on... isn't there anyone who survived that Federation fall? Surely not _everyone_ died in that mess... right?"

Kyo's Stitch followed that up in thought. "Naga everyone did, actually..."

Kyozuki immediately gave his surprise- "Duuuude! Who survived? Maybe they could give us help in whoever this is we're fighting, this... "Chryston".

The timid Experiment's eyes met Kyo's. "While meega's mind issa still piecing together, tay would know well who made Stitch, ih..." he stated.

The Kamakuran youth clued in on cue. "...Jumba Jookiba and Wendy Pleakley? They're still kicking?!"

"Kyo, this is blowing my mind here! I- I... I'd faint if I was able..." Chiro stated, the fangirl about to fall in delight after Kyo gave his surprise.

"Naga sure if they're still around, but if they sent meega here... then it's possible they're trying to get into contact, ih... only a matter of time..."

Kyozuki looked at his Disney Mobile phone again, tilting his head in curiosity- "Huh... well, if they want my cell phone number, that'd be a good way of contacting us, yeah?"

"C'mon, Kyo! I think they've got a way of contacting us... it's just a waiting game from hereon in!"

Chiro had watched enough of the blue alien's adventures in TV and film to trust Jumba and Pleakley arriving when they least expected it... if the Experiment was right about this, though what reason would they have to distrust him?

Kyo sighed, knowing the stress between this impending alien coming and keeping Stitch to himself from the surrounding world was bogging him down. And knowing that they were very limited on allies in the long run considering what happened to the Galactic Federation in his world was also doing him in.

He was so mellow and laidback, he wasn't used to what was coming his way nor did he think he was ready. But at the very least, he had help with his best friend Chiro, "idol" Yuna and both of the Experiments present. And that help meant a lot to him, a la something near and dear to his heart- "ohana".

"Until then though, we may as well get our minds off of this the best way I know how. Icy treats at Aisu Machi, anyone?" Kyo asked.

"After-breakfast ice cream? Geez, you're good at reading minds, Kyo!" Chiro gave her glee for this.

Yuna's Stitch, already after downing food, piped up as well- "Ih! Gimme dairy deliciousness!"

Yuna chuckled at her Experiment with a smile, "Hey, why not? Just don't be tempted by Stitch, he might get you to buy him seconds!"

With that, the five-man group had gotten themselves ready to head out, disguise or no disguise, to the towering city of Kamakura. This time over to the Kamakura Dock again.

It wasn't for the nightly flash-mobs as it was far too early in the day for that, but for dairy delicacies, in the hopes that it would help relieve what unease was setting in from the Federation proven gone... Keyword, "hopes".

* * *

Sunlight poured down on the Kamakuran cityscape as per its usual, the summer skies befitting the skyscrapers that cut the sky. It was always meant to be a monumental sight seeing these buildings complimented with ads that added more to the real world aura- like billboards with BB-8 or even kaiju like Godzilla. You could even class Mameshiba among these, but these added more to how "real" Kamakura felt.

Down at the Kamakura Dock, Yuna and Chiro sat along with Yuna's own Stitch gussied up in his own disguise like Yuna at a patio table, as they waited for Kyo at Aisu Machi.

Luckily, it didn't take long before Kyo came with two blue and purple meshes of ice cream in glasses for him and Chiro, as well as a cone at hand.

"Two Stitch Shakers for me and Chiro and for you, Flo... well, I never really knew what flavor was your fave, so I went ahead and did vanilla just 'cuz," Kyo said, handing Yuna the cone.

Yuna chuckled in that dialect that led to her Flo disguise. "Nah, nah- it's fine, dude! Besides, me and Joker'll probably share thi-"

The moment she said she was going to, her Experiment had ate the vanilla top of the cone whole, wrapping his tongue around it and swallowing in one gulp. Yuna crossed her arms at this with a scowl, quietly muttering to her Experiment under alias.

"What did I _just_ say about sharing that?"

"Oh... eheh..." her Stitch rubbed the back of his head nervously. As much as he wanted to say "sokka", he couldn't due to this being out in the open.

Yuna still wasn't all too pleased and shook her head at this. "Man... typical Joker, huh?"

Stitch Shakers were well-known around Kamakura as a mix of blueberry and grape ice cream melded together to make a smooth, sort of smoothie-like creation, straws included. Aisu Machi prefers to call how they make it a secret, but all secrets aside, it always ended up being the dairy treat of choice for Kyo and Chiro, what with being Stitch die-hards.

Just as Chiro was about to sip on her Stitch Shaker, something clouded up what was a perfectly sunny day. It was casting shade across not just the Kamakura Dock, but what looked like the whole city.

"What... the..." Chiro said. Many people looked up to the sky in terror.

"What _is _that!?", "No way... no way, this isn't happening, it only thinks its happening!" and many more things were said as whatever shaded the sky over hung. Yuna and the others looked up much the same as the other city folk...

Upon looking up, it was discovered that a giant spacecraft had flown over the city, blocking the sun out and making its shadow upon the urban locale. Its look was sharp and jagged all over, its colors gold and red. And most of all, wires hung from around the ship as if they were connected to something inside or outside.

Kyo's Stitch looked at this and was already set off. He growled intensely, as if he remembered that ship somewhere in the recesses of his mind...

Kyo spat out his Stitch Shaker explosively as he saw this ship.

"W- WHAT IN THE!?" he yelled. "Nonononono, don't tell me that's who I think it is!"

Earth's technology again went on the fritz, but without any major screech to deafen the ears this time. Kyo looked over at a TV at the electronics shop nearby to see that tall and jagged alien individual return to the screens and the static in shadow. The "Chryston", it was assumed. It was quite obvious what he wanted after two previous takeovers...

"_Greetings Earthlings...we asked for 626, the real one... and yet we got no answer from you vermin of the planet. We gave you time... and now that time is going to get cut. Bring me the real Experiment 626 in a day, not this absolutely appalling clone... or else..._"

The figure lifted his thin yet clawed hand veiled by the black on the screen, as it began to glow in a powerful blue aura and his eyes did the same. At first, it didn't look like much would have came from this...

Suddenly, something powerful slammed the street leading up Kamakura Dock. First glance revealed it to be nothing, but as it continued up the road, it tore the concrete road to pieces, shredding through it with ease.

The heroes shielded themselves from this move, trying their best not to get hit by debris from whatever tore the road up. As it finished, a gust swirled about as the dust from the damage revealed that the entire road was wide open and in pieces, a mix of destroyed concrete and upturned sand.

Yuna backed down her arms from guarding herself to see what had happened the same as Kyo.

"Whoa... he totally just demoed the road!" Yuna said, masking her surprise under her attempted Kamakuran dialect.

Her Stitch did similarly- "No way, bro!"

"_And that's.. not... all..."_ the shaded alien said, gripping his hand into a fist as the aura turned violent.

Nearby, a yellow Nissan car that was parked on the sidewalk near Aisu Machi was picked up by what looked to be nothing again and was violently thrown ahead. The car crashed into the side of a building down the lane from Aisu Machi, sending glass and brick crashing down below as dust settled.

Seeing this gave Kyo enough of an idea of how powerful the powers of a "Chryston" seemed. Yet luckily, even with how much force the extra-terrestrial had given into that display, nobody got hurt.

The crowd down at the Dock ran off in horror after this destructive display, as the group of Stitch owners stayed behind to watch what else this monster had to say, their eyes glued to the television set down the way masked by a shop's broken glass window.

"_That is your answer... deliver me Experiment 626... or else, I will be taking a hostage every day that you don't comply. Perhaps one of the humans left standing in the square would like to be a science experiment?"_

His chuckling and taunting at the humans and their alien Experiments proved to be not working, though Chiro looked uneasy at being called a "test specimen".

"We're not afraid of some alien creep, you know! We can take you!" Yuna said, quite clearly breaking her character as Flo for a moment.

Kyo egged as well, "I'm with Flo here, forget it, dude! No matter what your intentions are, I won't let you get _any _of him in your hands!"

"_I expected you to say that, call it a hunch... Just remember, I demand 626 in a day... perhaps even less. Or else, bad things will happen to those around you. We are watching..."_

Earth's tech reverted back to normal as the transmission cut, though static stayed on that TV screen in the store due to the obvious structural damage around Kamakura Dock. Through the psychic powers he had, he made a mess out of the city's most famous spot easily, the shadow of the gold and red ship lingering upon not just the damages, but the skyline surrounding the group.

Yuna's Stitch looked to Yuna for a moment. "Meega naga like where this is going..."

"Kidding me? You and me both..." the two had agreed.

Kyo looked to the others in concern. "We gotta head back to the house, dudes- it's not safe with that big ship looming over the city like this... capiche?"

The others all nodded and turned back down the other route back to Kyozuki's house, as the road where they came from was otherwise demoed.

Yuna on the other hand, looked back for a moment and swore she saw a certain flaxen-haired girl that she saw earlier run into a nearby alleyway of the city, one untouched by the damage of the "Chryston".

"Was... was that...?"

After a rub of her eyes though, nothing turned up. Thinking it was just her seeing things, she ran off, catching up to the group and shrugging seeing her off.

Truth is, the Kamihara kid's eyes _weren't_ playing tricks on her_, _as in the alleys between Aisu Machi and another store entirely, the Astral Jumpers stood, having hidden well from the Kamakura crowd...

Yaiko panted loudly, almost on the verge of hyperventilation after trying to find safe haven from what happened, her partner Kyohaku Stitch near her. It didn't matter that the "girl from the Tri-Rune" had almost saw her, but the immense foreign power was more important.

"W- What _was_ that power, Kyohaku!?" she asked.

"Issa was a Chryston, alien with very powerful psychokinetics... tay just saw a demonstration."

"So that _thing_ was an alien?! Why have I never heard of it where we come from?"

"Because they went extinct where we came from, takka... Such power led to their ultimate demise. Naga worry too much, it seems like this universe may be doomed to stop him, considering his sudden appearance... Ragga snabba..."

Yai tried to calm down after that, but being caught in harm's way like that found ways to rattle her.

"No... no matter though... Kyohaku, after the trash raid last night, did we manage to make what we wanted to here regardless of psychic assault on the city? This should be the perfect place where we can install and set it up" she asked her partner carefully.

Kyohaku Stitch nodded. "Ih, issa all set. Meega think when we do take our leave, it'll be ready to activate..."

The flax haired girl nodded, pleased with her Jumper partner's actions the previous night. "Good... Most excellent. Make sure we've got the co-ordinates to our location proper when we do leave. I don't wish to end up off course when these do go active."

"They should be perfectly set in all the realms we wished to tap into, ih..."

The two Jumpers nodded with devilish grins after their confirmation between one another.

"It's only a matter of time!" they said, Yaiko chuckling and of course, snorting per habit.

With that vague information towards some Jumper secret between them, the two ran off yet again, trying to find higher ground given the chaos that ensued in Kamakura Dock. Seems as though it didn't just impact Yuna and the heroes, but the Jumpers as well, though they had a plan of their own...

* * *

"What in the world can we even do to stop something that's got the power to wreck up roads, huh?"

Chiro was the first to break the silence as she paced the room, the others sitting around a table in the Yamada living room as the afternoon struck and the group settled after what happened prior at the Dock.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Chiro..." Yuna retorted, stumped for words.

Kyo was already on the phone as this was going on.

"Yeah? Good on your guys, Pride. Shutting down Kamakura Dock's a solid first step, dude... Keep your guys on guard though, that "Chryston" could pull anything. Thanks, will do. Bye..."

Kyo nodded and hung up the usual Disney Mobile phone he was talking into, its inner ears based on Experiment 626 folding down.

"That was Jonathan, he told us he shut down the Dock and is looking into this ship over the city with his P.S.Y.C.H team... I'll keep in touch with him if anything else happens," Kyo explained.

"Well, Jonathan might have our backs, but who else would? If that guy made short work of the Dock, imagine what he'll do to us!" Yuna said, her Stitch nodding vigorously.

It was then Kyozuki's cell phone went off again. "Unknown name, unknown number" it read as the ringtone of a song from Kyo's reality could be heard.

"Of all the times Wolf Club has to go off..." Kyo muttered.

"_I'll come back... I'll come and get you, we can run away tonight... Wherever..."_

Kyo picked it up and answered after a moment of hesitance given its misleading caller ID. "Hey! If this is one of those crazy telemarketers looking to sell me some trip to Honolulu via Tsunami Air, it's not happening, dude!"

He heard static on the other end, and the consistent cut in and out of a voice. In and out, in and out again and again.

"A... Is... there... A- Wasu-" was all that could be heard from the Disney-branded phone.

Kyo was already stressed out enough. "Look, if this is just a wrong number, stop right now, dude! This isn't the time!"

As soon as the static cleared, the voice Kyo heard on the other end made his eyes widen extravagantly.

"Hello? This call is indubitably working, yes?, a voice said with a thick accent on it, one that the fanboy immediately knew but didn't think was real.

Yuna and Chiro looked on at this. "Hey, you okay, Kyo? You don't usually get this tongue-tied..." Chiro said.

The boy nodded, his wide gawk remaining on his face, accenting his surprise.

"Answer or else I'm going to call other part of world..." the voice said on the other end of the phone line.

Kyo stirred right up with a yell. "YES! Yes, I'm here, who the heck's calling!?"

Chiro gave another look to Yuna, concerned that Kyozuki wasn't going crazy from whoever decided to ring him out of the blue.

"Who do you think is calling him?" Chiro asked.

Yuna just shrugged and gave an odder look. "I dunno, but it's gotta be important if he's this up in arms over it..." she said.

Kyo's stammered yell only confirmed what Yuna was thinking.

"J- JUMBA JOOKIBA!?" the red-haired teen yelled, struggling to yell his words.

Immediately, the others yelled back with a collective "WHAT!?"

Yuna ran right over and looked at Kyozuki a moment. "You don't mean we just found them by a mere phone call!?"

Kyo nodded again, jittery at this discovery. On the other end of the line were THE Jumba and Pleakley who made his own version of Stitch he'd been keeping a secret so well from the world. That same feeling of geekiness that took overtook him when he first met Yuna and Stitch took him again. Was it hard not to?

"Hahaha! Yes... yours truly _is_ Jumba Jookiba. Now... would you happen to be the person whom my Experiment 626 has somehow ran into?" Jumba asked Kyo.

He nodded as vigorously as Stitch would've, his giddy fanboy nature taking him over. "Yes! Yes, that's me! My name's Kyozuki... I'm a human being... more like a surfer city boy, but I'm a human from Kamakura!" he said, trying to get his words together.

"Ohh, so he _did _ manage to come to Earth!" Jumba chuckled to himself, happy that Kyo had told him the truth.

Kyo couldn't help but chuckle with the "evil genius scientist". "Yeah... so, what's up then?"

"We're soon to be arriving on Earth!" Jumba announced upon Kyo asking.

"We as in... you and Pleakley?"

"Yes! Me and Wendy Pleakley, Galactic Federation Administrators of Science and Nature respectively... at your service!"

Kyo was impressed at this news. As it turned out, much differently as to how Jumba and Pleakley were in Yuna's realm (which were both under the Grand Councilwoman), this realm's Jumba and Pleakley had become Administrators of their craft, Jumba with science and Pleakley nature... to an extent. This was obviously before the fall of the Galactic Federation that the gang had learnt about earlier some time before Stitch came to Earth.

He was so impressed with this news that it almost sent Kyozuki toppling over before Yuna and Chiro caught him.

"Whoa, whoa... careful Kyo!" Yuna said, holding him up.

"You know... he never told me he was a little on the heavy side..." Chiro quipped respectively.

As he did take his fall, the Disney Mobile phone landed in front of the Yamada kid's Stitch. Figuring it out relatively quickly, he picked it up.

"J- Jumba?" he asked.

"626! Is so nice to be hearing your voice after so long of being separated! We're soon to be landing on Earth... would you happen to have a place where we could meet?" Jumba asked.

The Experiment was confused. "Uhh... Kamakura in..."

Chiro managed to step in after setting Kyo on the couch with Yuna- "Genjiyama Park!"

Stitch tilted his head at the girl in overalls.

Yuna looked at Chiro as confused as the Experiment was. "Genjiyama? Where the heck in Kamakura's that?"

"I'll tell ya soon, just tell them to meet us there, Stitch!"

Kyo's Stitch smiled, then went right back to the phone- "...Genjiyama Park, Jumba."

"Excellent, excellent! Took lots of deciphering to get signal to Earth. Shouldn't take _as_ long for us to actually get to Earth. Expect us soon! Oh! Also, tell woozy human boy where we're meeting?" Jumba chuckled, knowing a thing or two about human beings.

The creator's Stitch gave a nod and a hearty "Okitaka!" before hanging up and tossing the Disney Mobile phone onto Kyozuki Yamada's dizzy self.

Chiro smiled to herself as Stitch returned to her side. "Sounds like we have a plan then! Or at least... somewhat of one against that big baddie above..." she said, petting Kyo's Stitch on the head.

Kyo on the other hand was still dazed at the phone call that had just occurred. He could barely even form words.

"That... that was... Jumba and Pleakley..." he uttered.

Yuna's Experiment piped up- "Great, he's gone delusional..."

Yuna walked over with a modest smile. "Allow me" she said, finishing off with a well placed karate chop to Kyo's head.

"Ow!" he yelled as he came back to, rubbing his head.

"Uncool, dude! I didn't deserve the karate chop of a Kamihara, thanks! Besides, I was having a nice dream that Jumba and Pleakley were coming to Earth..." Kyo said, not realizing.

Everyone chimed back. "It wasn't a dream, Kyo... they're coming to Genjiyama Park later tonight."

Kyo got up after the fan attack he had- "Genjiyama Park? Huh... good planning."

Yuna hounded the decision though. "Hello! If that guy's got psychic powers, it's pretty possible he'll know where we are! You know, telekinesis? Why choose a park like that, especially one you guys never showed me and Stitch?"

Chiro definitely knew why. "The reason I chose Genjiyama Park is because of the dense forest. See, Genjiyama's a spiritual place near the Gozan and off to the west from the city, so not a lot of people visit there often given Shintoism backgrounds. We'd have privacy and we'd be away from the city and the ship, so he wouldn't know where we were going!"

"Ohh... you know, that makes a lotta sense, now that you say that!" Yuna agreed.

Kyo's Stitch also perked in- "Meega vaguely remember Jumba and Pleakley having a mobile lab there before they sent meega down here... Maybe they still have it and we can have help, ih?"

Kyo nodded with a grin to his Stitch, seeing that he was remembering more and more about his past before coming down to Earth from wherever he was from.

He chuckled and continued- "So that's the idea, huh? We go to Genjiyama and meet up with Jumba and Pleakley and see if they can help us against this impending doom. Sound good to y'all?"

The others raised their hands to the sky with a collective "Aye!"

"_Huh... maybe they can help us get back home too after all's said and done?" _Yuna had thought as she raised her hand.

All thoughts aside, they had their plan in the calmest place in the Kamakuran city, Genjiyama Park... The real question is, what help would Jumba give them beyond a lab against something with enough power to tear up entire roads and send cars into flight?

* * *

Waiting at Genjiyama Park for the two Administrators felt like an eternity... or at least, it did as twilight fell for the group ahead. From the hidden park, one could see the gold and red ship and just how large it was high over the Kamakuran buildings.

The park on the other hand, felt calm upon night, nature accompanying the several Shinto artifacts and statues that complimented the way to the Gozan above. It was a little peace of natural heaven in comparison to the usual Kamakuran city, with the only competition being Kyo's secret Crescent Beach.

Everyone had their own ways to pass the time, between Yuna and Stitch's chatting and Kyo's playing of a mobile game called TsumTsum using who else but Stitch as his central character of choice.

A few minutes after twilight fell and the roar of an engine came off from the distance above them, making all heads look to the sky. Coming down from the heights was a green ship that had a sleek design to it, alike that of the Galactic Federation's own back where Yuna and Stitch came from.

As it came to a landing in front of the group, a bridge folded out from the the spacecraft as a bright light flushed out of the door that opened on the side.

Two silhouettes stepped out, one large and one small. The group all knew, as the light died down and their Kweltikwan and Plogonarian forms were unveiled, that it was Jumba Jookiba and Wendy Pleakley. The two looked exactly as they did back home to Yuna, save for their outfits- which were black and yellow body suits, like what the Grand Councilwoman or Gantu would've worn.

"Yeah, that's them alright... the outfits are different, but being Admins for the Federation'd do that, huh?" Yuna said, looking the duo up and down. She didn't have to disguise her voice this late at night, thankfully.

"Not on time... but definitely still in time to catch all of you, yes?" Jumba said, looking around his surroundings of the very green park.

Kyo's own Stitch ran forward with a smile and leaped to Jumba with a hug.

"Jumba! Hey!" he said in happiness- something rare for him given his timid nature or savage way if provoked.

Jumba looked rather marvelled at this. "Oh my... who changed around 626 like this? Is impressive..."

The Kamakuran partner to that Stitch then stepped forward with the rest. "That would be me, dude! Kyozuki Yamada, big fan of you, "evil genius scientist," he happily explained.

Pleakley, who hadn't said a word up to now, scanned Kyo up and down. "Hmm... humanoid, wearing colored shades and cool clothing... seems like your usual tourist!" he exclaimed.

"Noooot even close, dude... I'm a human being native to Kamakura, no tourist blood on me!" Kyo chuckled.

Jumba took notice to the others behind though, moreso Yuna, disguise and all- and Chiro.

"Who are the others then? They have names, don't they?" he inquired.

Yuna started up- "My name's Yuna. Yuna Kamihara," following with a bow, "Nice to meet ya, Jumba!"

She was trying hard not to say she met him before back at her island home of Izayoi.

Chiro followed after in her own way. "HI! I'm Chiro, _such_ a big fan of your work, Doc!"

Jumba then looked over to find something that puzzled him- another Experiment 626 in his guise. Yuna's Stitch grinned as this version of Jumba Jookiba looked him in the eyes.

"Are you... another 626? How is this possible? Dimension travel? Cloning? What are you?"

"Meega Stitch too. Naga a clone, takka very much!" the Experiment responded.

"It's a long story, dude... Yuna and that Stitch aren't from around here, if you get my drift!" Kyo said following both Jumba and Yuna's own alien.

Pleakley caught on quickly- "Ohhh, okay! Not from here as in... okay, I get it!"

Chiro looked at Pleakley rather humorously upon him saying a thing like that.

Jumba gave a look to these newfound people in front of him.

"A better question is how do you people know of me this well? Usually my work is better known in space, not on planet Earth!" he asked.

The Yamada teen had the answer for it and a creative one at that. He breathed in and gave it a go in a speedy tone. "You yourself and Pleakley, as well as Stitch before us, Yuna included there, were all invented by cartoonists and their interpretation of a human-meets-alien story, and thus the character_ known_ as Stitch, became really popular here in Kamakura, making TV shows, games, card games and so on and so forth all thanks to the big Mouse House!" he gasped after saying that entire spiel in one breath.

Kyo continued after he caught his breath- "Or you could just chalk that up on coincidence, take your pick!"

"I dunno, sounds like a total coincidence to me" Yuna said, replying to what was a long-winded explanation of Kyozuki's own.

Jumba merely nodded and gave a simple answer- "Understood."

Pleakley was more happy to see Stitch safe than the explanation over how exactly the humans knew Jumba, typically falling for the simpler things.

"I'm just glad the little monster's made it safe and sound to here without falling to that evil doctor's grasp..." he said, looking with his one eye to Stitch in tender Plogonarian way.

Jumba looked out to the city skyline seeing the golden and red ship linger about in the distance, blocking the sundown from hitting the tall skyscrapers and drowning them out in dark shadows below.

"But then again, Pleakley... he's also here too... best be glad we got here prematurely before that Chrystek ship could do any worse..."

Yuna raised an eyebrow to this. "Prematurely? Whaddaya mean prematurely?" she asked.

"The Chrystek could be used to amplify his psychokinetic powers to the point he could cause wanton destruction..."

"That already happened! Down at Kamakura Dock, he tore the road and sent a car flying, dude!" Kyo interjected into the Kweltikwan's explanation.

"That... or he could do far worse than doing property damage with the craft..." Jumba finished.

Chiro tilted her head in confusion. "What could be worse?"

Jumba closes his eyes in thought, not wanting to think about the consequences of the alien ship doing worse than what already occurred.

"Said Chrystek could hook itself to the highest point in the city and unleash a flood of problems that could eradicate life as we know it in... Kamakura, yes?" he asked to Kyo, nodding to his guess.

Kyo's Stitch timidly walked up to his creator. "Tay... tay don't mean?"

"Yes... the "Metropolis" project."

Yuna looked weirdly at Jumba upon the name "Metropolis" being dropped.

"Metropolis? I thought that was another name for a city... what the heck's that gotta do with a project?" she asked.

Jumba opened his four eyes and began to explain what "Metropolis" was and and who this "Chryston" was...

"_His name was Dr. Helios Xanthers... He was one of us in something called the Milky Way Confederacy, something that has long since been defunct. Me and an old colleague of mine, Dr. Jacques von Hamsterviel were a part of it, alongside a human megalomaniac named Kenshin and another old colleague gone rogue named Delia. The Chryston Xanthers was one of us... but he also was unlike us. I may have dealed in illegal genetic Experiments and the others to random excursions, but Xanthers took it to a whole other extreme... psychological and techno-organic studies. He wanted a project... that could control minds like a computer would data packets. Turn things into a living system that he could control with one single mind- his own. This was called the "Metropolis" project. A project that would merge life itself into one central system with the mind controlling it serving no remorse for life or sentience in anything it linked to. With this, he made a purple substance that would cure a being of ailing or illness, something that prevented him from the harms of age for years forth... So, he named it "Helios", after his own first name. He then planned to take that for the "Metropolis" project, expanding it and enhancing the "Helios" in order to make a variant of the gel where the substance could grow and overtake anything, including cities. This would in turn create a amorphous creation that latch to anything- buildings, nature, people themselves and make it a single thing he could evolve and control as one whole network... without worrying about the loss of life or forests or oceans around. Like what the project says... a "Metropolis"._

Everyone looked astonished at the story he told. A "Metropolis" with disregard towards the living? The idea seemed like something absolutely impossible. Yet Jumba seemed to imply he achieved it. This only made things feel more disturbing about the Chryston scientist, now revealed to be an eldest scientist named Xanthers.

"So his name's Xanthers... and that's what he wants to do? That's messed up, dude..." Kyo said, breaking the silence that was left after the Kweltikwan's explanation.

"He even said he wanted test subjects! Tell me he's kidding about that!" Yuna asked Jumba.

Jumba simply shook his head. "Sadly no, he is not kidding, little girl. He needs a personal "Hel" for this project."

Yuna perked an eyebrow at Jumba. "Come again? Did I hear that right?" she asked, curious if she didn't hear another word entirely.

Jumba nodded, "Hel" was a character from an old theatrical production called "Metropolis", hence its use in the project name. By this, he needs a host who can control the network and still receive orders from his mind. He doesn't care how traumatic or how much it will remove you from reality, he thought one of you could do it... Do realize that if he used the "Metropolis" substance on any of you, he could seal you into a core that would sap off their emotional strength, powering the entire process whether they liked it or not because they would not have mental choice in matter?"

Kyo looked quite worried for not just himself, but all of his friends at the mention of this. "You don't mean-"

"Yes. It will lock whoever is the host into a state of depression. Doesn't matter if you're kind, a total blitznak or a strong heart, it will lock you into that state and leave you that way so long as the substance is in your system, though the system prefers strong hearts. It could even replicate you for defensive purposes... as it only requires one flesh and blood person to be the host," Jumba continued.

Yuna looked uneasy at this, as she always made a stride to be tough and fearless hence one of her mottos- "karate masters are never scared". But the idea of being thrown into an endless depression only to fuel a calamity sounded the same in her mind as anyone else's... sickening.

"Is it poisonous or hazardous to whoever is the host though?" she asked.

Jumba shook his head again, providing some relief. "Luckily, it is not that. The most it does is brainwash the host. Its purest form though is very bitter..."

Jumba walked ahead looking out at the Chrystek levitating over the city as twilight was passing to night, thinking a more optimistic thought to combat the pessimistic ones that he gave in explanatory form.

"I'd be thankful that his research got destroyed _for_ said project though. Only reason I know is because I was able to access lost Federation files back when the computers were active that stated his projects were barred and cancelled..." he stopped.

Thinking over the past, the Kweltikwan had took his time and continued. "When the Federation found out about his dangerous, immoral and distasteful work, they scrapped his files, destroyed his lab and threw him out. Needless to say, he wasn't pleased. And you likely already know what followed some time after..." Jumba said, closing his eyes at the last second.

"Bye bye, Federation..." Kyo's Stitch had said bluntly.

His creator nodded at what his creation had said. "Exactly. Xanthers had pulled a psychokinetic assault on the then-smaller and reconstructing Galactic Federation HQ that ripped through as much as he could in his wake... including... the then current Grand Councilwoman among..."

Pleakley held a hand up in salute with Jumba mentioning the Councilwoman, tearing up a bit. "M- May she rest in peace..."

"One thing doesn't make sense here! Why would someone with something so dangerous want Stitch like this? He has something powerful already- why go through all the extra effort?" Chiro asked.

Jumba knew his response easily. "Simple. He needs to create a network that would serve as an army for him in the event that he cannot. Being someone who craves power, 626 would give him exactly that, if anyone dared to cross him and his "Helios" prospects. If he still has the technology for this, we have to stop him before he can unleash the "Metropolis" project upon the world... Though, now that we're on Earth, we're going to need cover..."

Kyo gave a grin at this and snapped his fingers- "Got ya covered, dudes! We can hide you _and_ give you new lab space back at my home! I'm sure Dad and Uncle Haka don't mind."

"This kid's giving us living quarters? Well, in that case..." Pleakley said, pulling out a green remote from his Federation outfit and pressing a button.

The ship which had stood before them that Jumba and Pleakley stepped out of began breaking down, transforming itself smaller and smaller until it folded to become a lime-green suitcase, matching the color of the ship that stood before it.

Pleakley then proceeded to pick it up. "Perfect! We'd be happy to follow!"

Jumba became curious once again after Pleakley packed up space into his suitcase. "Question though... has Xanthers said anything upon his arrival?" he asked.

Yuna was the one to answer. "Other than he wants the _real _him in a day or else he's taking "test specimens"... no, he's been quiet."

Kyo added to this- "Yeah, that or "we'll be watching" is what we get from him."

"Exactly as expected. What he must be doing is scouting the people here to find his perfect "Hel" for the project... The one with the strongest heart to be the trigger for all of his invented terrors to come..." Jumba guessed.

Yuna and Chiro chimed after with "Not happening", while the two Stitches and Kyo all gave a collective "Ih".

Chiro looked at her teenage best friend with a giggle, knowing all too well what the Yamada boy had just acted like. "Did you just say that too, dude?"

"What? I always wanted to..." Kyozuki rubbed the back of his head in some minor embarrassment.

Jumba scoffed. "The _real_ 626... he probably thinks the second one around isn't an interdimensional doppelganger. His psychotic yet absolutely narrow mind knows no bounds beyond the ones he attempts to read..." he said, his statement seeming like fact.

"So, our plan is to make it to the top of Kotokan Tower and stop him before he makes it up there and uses the thing?"

"Precisely right, teenage boy..." Kyo and Jumba agreed between themselves.

Though, as if it on cue, a cold voice cut through the group's plans, not one of their own either. "You forget one thing..."

Yuna began to be levitated into midair by some force. She tried and tried to break free, trying to pry her arms from whatever unseen thing gripped her, but whatever had her in her grasp wasn't planning on putting her down.

"Hey, what in the-!?"

"Yuna!" Pleakley and her own Stitch said in unison and alarm as she floated upward.

"PUT ME DOWN!" she grunted as she tried to break this thing's grasp, whatever invisible force it was...

Though what had her in his grasp wasn't at all good, as in front of them was an abnormally tall alien form, about less than a quarter of the size of any of the trees present in Genjiyama Park. His head looked to have a crystal on the base of it, glowing blue eyes and a skeletal form to him. This was only detracted by a ripped black robe that he wore over his body, which seemed to contrast his violet and aquamarine color scheme.

With his hand raised, he had Yuna gripped via a mysterious force, his head glowing an ominous red and blue seeming to link to his raised body part...

"It appears you've caught onto my plan here... and I don't take kindly to those who dare to interfere in my game..." the being said, his voice seeming low and cold.

Yuna's Stitch wasn't having her being captured today, trying to play hero for her. He pinky swore a long time ago, after all.

"YUNA!" he cried, leaping towards the being with claws raised.

But as he tried, he was blown away by a unseen burst into a nearby tree, putting an end to the alien's attempts as he got up slowly.

"Stitch, no!" Yuna yelled, watching her "ohana" get hurt trying to save her when she'd rather have herself take the pain.

Jumba immediately called this figure out upon his appearance. Like an old friend from the Confederacy. "I should have known... Xanthers."

He gave a crooked smirk, fitting his spiritless yet insane appearance. "Jumba... been a long time... we... no, I missed your company..."

Kyo tried to act as brave as his "idol" Yuna would have here had she not been in psychic grasp, though his cowardice was telling him to back down. "So you're the monster who I kept hearing about from Jumba, huh? You let her go... or else I'm gonna let you meet a world of hurt!" he yelled.

Xanthers looked on at his shorter opposition, the red-haired teenage Kamakuran who tried to talk down to him.

"I'm afraid that's not happening... What the fat obstacle says about the "Metropolis" project is true, the files were destroyed a long time ago by those cursed fools at the UGF. But they were not forgotten..." Xanthers said, pointing to his giant crystal head with his hand.

Jumba knew what he meant- "I knew you Chrystons had a good memory..."

Pleakley blindly went after Xanthers next, trying to bring the psycho scientist down to size. "What, were you such a baby about losing your projects that you-"

Before Pleakley could even finish his sentence, he was picked up and tossed away at high speeds with Xanthers' psychic powers, smashing him headlong into a tree. Xanthers, his other hand up, merely talked back to the now downed Plogonarian.

"Fool... the Federation _denied_ me it because they didn't want me in power. If your head was any smarter, you would've known that by now... Yet all that is going to change soon starting with this girl..." Xanthers said.

Yuna angrily yelled back at the Chryston upon hearing this- "Yeah, right! If I know these guys, they're gonna clobber you! 'Least... I hope..."

Kyo gave a stern look to the alien, his first warning didn't seem to work out in getting him to drop his "idol". Like Pleakley, he wanted to try and save Yuna from being taken by the psychotic doctor, yet his head again tried to tell him to back down.

Fighting that nagging voice inside, he made his move. Unfortunately, he went about it the wrong way here. "LET HER GO, YOU MON-"

As Kyo ran forward to try and punch Xanthers in the face, he waved his free hand, causing the boy to be sent onto the ground with a abundant flush of his psychic powers. Groaning, Kyozuki got himself back up, clutching his arm from the tumble. Not broken, but bruised.

"This... this isn't working!" he said in worry. Kyo's Stitch, seeing him hurt ran right up beside him, growling in feral way to the mad doctor ahead, remembering him well upon looking at the Chrystek earlier.

"You all are complete nuisances. Nuisances that will be disposed of when the project is finished with this girl in tow... And perhaps another one of you in tow for the trauma..." Xanther said with an low chuckle, raising his free hand again to match the glow.

This time, Chiro was being lifted up skyward. Struggling as much as she did in trying to pry her arms free, there was no way to break Xanthers' psychic hold on her, Yuna finding this out rather similarly...

"D- Dude! I don't like this!"

"You're telling me, Chiro! N- Ngh!"

"Let the girls go!" Jumba stood in front of Xanthers and the park's peaceful yet unfitting for the moment surroundings, Kyo, the Stitches and Pleakley all watching the tension of this moment.

"What is it you crave? I'll deliver it!" he asked, wanting Xanthers to give up his intent with the two humans in his hands.

"626 is something... I could use him, you useless scientist..." Xanthers replied without hesitation.

Jumba growled, anything but his own creation... "Save for him!"

"Then keep him... he'll make an excellent addition when the "Metropolis" project is completed..." Xanthers bit back at Jumba.

Yuna's Stitch, again tried to break through the Chryston's psychic defense. "YUNA, MEEGA'S COMING!" he yelled, but all the same, as quickly as he leapt for her, he was subdued by the very same thing that sent him flying before, this time shredding into the ground nearby.

Jumba tried reasoning... but it was very clear that he had no choice but to resort to force when reasoning should fail. From his holster belt around his Federation garb, he pulled out a standard issue Plasma Pistol, pointing it at Xanthers.

"Put... young ones... down..." he said, his eyes narrowing to the Chryston.

Xanthers on the other hand, knew all too well what he was planning to do, tapping into his psychokinetic powers. With a blast coming from what looked like the crystal on his head, the Kweltikwan who stood wanting to stop this madness was sent back, his Plasma Pistol flying into a nearby stream in the sacred park.

Kyo stepped forward again, not letting go of the alien's unrestrained assault on the group.

"You think it's tough pushing us around with your psychic powers!? You ain't so tough, dude! Put down Yuna and Chi-"

A cocking sound clicked behind Kyozuki's head, making his heart sink low. Xanthers had picked up the Plasma Pistol with his telekinesis and pointed it behind his head, ready to blast a plasma shot into his skull with one wrong move.

"KYO!" Yuna and Chiro yelled, seeing this treacherous move while being hung in the air.

"Now... I'll make a deal with you. Let me have these two specimens... Or else you'll give me no other choice but to pull the trigger of this Plasma Pistol. And let me tell you, the latter will be incredibly messy..." Xanthers said with that crooked smirk again.

Silence filled the air as Kyozuki Yamada stood frozen in a cold sweat by the Plasma Pistol pointed at the back of his head thanks to the irate doctor. He felt the closest to death than ever before here, not even large tidal waves did this to the Kamakuran teen.

His Stitch growled savagely, wanting to strike back against Xanthers, though if he did, it would mean curtains for the poor boy who had helped mould him. Jumba looked on the same as not only his creation, but the doppelganger of his creation over his partner Yuna.

"So, what's the choice? Let the boy protector of Experiment 626 kick the bucket... or let me have these two test specimens?" Xanthers urged, asking the Stitches and Jumba what their decision was.

Jumba struggled, knowing the ex-member of the Confederacy well. He knew Xanthers, while willing to get what he wanted by any means necessary, was also true to his word.

Jumba sighed as Pleakley hobbled back up to him with a groan, clutching his noodle arm. "...Take them."

Both of the Stitches immediately rebelled against the decision made. "NAGA!" they cried loudly, as Yuna's Stitch ran right up to the Admin Kweltikwan.

"Issa "ohana", we can't just leave them behind! Nobody gets left behind!"

"Would you want the boy to be dead... or alive, other 626?" he questioned in a low tone. Yuna's Experiment had no words to come back with, his ears drooping down.

With Xanthers' head around every angle, the heroes were caught in a battle they couldn't win here. Knowing well that there wasn't any way to turn things around for Kyozuki's sake, Jumba started again, yelling to Xanthers.

"Take them! Is clear we can't win now, but we'll think of some way to eliminate what you've got planned! Just... let teenage boy go..."

"Excellent... I knew your sentiments over other flesh and blood would be your weakness," Xanthers said, dropping the Plasma Pistol from the back of Kyo's head as he fell to his knees.

No words came from the teen's mouth as he tried to pull himself back together from the near death experience, though it proved hard given the shock from the event.

"That weakness will also be your downfall..." Xanthers stopped, smirking as he levitated into midair with the two girls in his psychic command.

"Remember, one of these two won't be the same after I'm done with them... keep that in mind, as I'll be watching..."

And in an instant, as Yuna called for Stitch and Chiro called for Kyozuki, the Chryston vanished in thin air, taking both of the young souls with the psychokinetic scientist to what was assumed to be the Chrystek high above the city...

Jumba and Pleakley, along with the two Stitches, rushed over to Kyozuki after the encounter was over.

"Teenage boy... are you okay after that tremendous trauma?" Jumba asked tenderly.

Kyo's Stitch looked on at this as well, propping his head against the human's leg and rubbing it up and down in comforting way.

"I- I'm fine... made it out "okitaka", thankfully," he said, catching his breath from the terror he felt from having a Federation weapon pointed that close to his head.

Kyo looked off to the Chrystek hanging in the sky in worry after. "But what about them? They could be in serious danger, dudes..."

Jumba heaved a sigh as he picked up the Plasma Pistol and put it back onto his belt holster. He then walked beside the teenage soul with Pleakley and looking out once more at the Chrystek same as Kyo beyond his orange glasses.

"Let's... just hope for the best, teenage boy... 626es. For now, we need refuge to battle the dark forces that will be coming from the reaches of that megalomaniac's mind..." he said, as Pleakley picked up the lime suitcase again.

Kyo looked down on himself at first, then back up given the chaos of today. "Right... let's do it. We'll get 'em back. They always do in the TV shows, dudes..." Kyozuki said, telling himself he can and will do what his "idols" would have in this scenario.

And with that, the five of them turned around, heading back to the Yamada house. Between Kamakura Dock being destroyed today and the abduction of Yuna and Chiro, Kyo's mind hadn't seen the mellow usual it had always seen when he went surfing or went to a flash-mob. Things had changed on him with the coming of Dr. Xanthers and it wasn't going to get better unless he took action.

He wasn't sure what it'd take to defeat the Chryston menace or what it'd take to get back Yuna and Chiro, but he knew he had to do it with as much "ohana" as he could on his side, or else Kamakura was doomed. He still had his fair share of cowardice to fight, but he knew he was ready... He had to be...


	7. HELIOS

**Chapter 7  
HELIOS**

* * *

Grey clouds rolled over the sky as night fell across Kamakura. Already the streets had changed from their usual cultural crowds to being somewhat bare, people staying inside their homes.

The reason was of course, the Chrystek that levitated over the city and plunged it into further darkness than the night would have normally given. Hours prior, the purveyor of the ship, Xanthers took his move in taking two captives out of both of the Stitches' friends and furthermore, family- Yuna and Chiro.

The inside of the gold and red ship was just as twisting and turning as the outside. The outside had wires hanging off of its spiky exterior, while the inside had just as equal matching the alien metals that coated the floors and walls. Unsettling enough was the thought of where these wires, big or small were heading.

Down the halls of this mismatched mess of a craft and inside of a prison chamber, Yuna and Chiro lied. Yuna had been rattling the bars of a cell that Chiro and her were locked in, yelling in the hopes that the Chryston would hear her anger.

"Let us outta here! Don't make me come out there, 'cuz you're underestimating a blackbelt! I could whoop your- agh... what's the use?" Yuna suddenly stopped, turning around and giving up.

She must have been yelling for about a good half-hour at the mechanical doors only to have the echo of the room come back to her.

She sat down near Chiro with a huff and a toss of her bubbly hat off her head and onto the cold floor, her tri-pigtails shooting back up. Chiro had been rather down from the moment she entered this evil den and Yuna took notice now after some time of her fury.

"Hey... Chiro, you holding up okay?" she inquired.

The youth stroked her long brown hair in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, dude... but I never expected it was me he wanted. When that creep said he was going to take prisoners, I was so scared it would've been me. That I would've been the "damsel in distress", you know? What's funny about that was that was hours ago... and now here I am worried about the both of us. I feel like I'm back at 3rd Grade and there's no escape from the bullies this time," she explained.

Chiro had always been a true blue fan at heart. But she was never really brave. When Kyo had met her in grade school, she was being bullied tremendously by the fact her parents were bakers. Kyozuki had given her some boost of courage by being friends as long as they have been, but it still didn't mean she was that 100% brave. She always admired that trait in people though, including her "idols".

"Hey, hey! Don't be so down in the dumps! I'm sure if I know the Stitches and Kyozuki, they're cooking up some kinda awesome plan to save us both! They wouldn't leave us behind, never!" Yuna pepped, believing in the principle of "ohana" like Stitch taught her.

"Just keep your head up high and we'll come out of this... not exactly unscathed, because of that "Metropolis" project, but still!"

Chiro stared at Yuna for a moment after she said that. Yuna wasn't 100% optimistic, as sometimes she'd pull the realist approach, but seeing her try and perk her up like this not only meant a lot to their friendship, but to the very thing the TV shows and movies abundant on the blue creature taught- "ohana".

"Yuna... you know, your grandmother's right about you when she says you're restless, huh? Sorry, I remember that from the TV shows..." she chuckled, perking up.

Yuna giggled back- "I know! Me and Stitch are the definition of restless!"

"Well, I suppose I can't be too scared when I have company by my side. Thank you, Yuna..."

But that happiness between the two was rather short-lived. The mechanical doors clattered as stepping through the entrance to the prison chamber was the tall Chryston himself, Xanthers. The two girls immediately stood up and glared his way upon his entrance.

"You know, you could change your mind and let us go... this could make the world of hurt you're gonna be in later on be a little lighter" Yuna said, her eyes narrowing to the scientific mind.

Xanthers on the other hand didn't reply, merely staring at Yuna and Chiro with a growing smirk.

"Hey, are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Yuna argued.

"...I don't need to when I know exactly what you're going to say..." Xanthers put out there.

He turned around in his thoughts, staring at the metal prison wall nearby.

"Tell me... why do you trust the filthy Kweltikwan when he sold _me_ of all people out? Why do you put your trust in those blue vermin when you know the road they are going to lead you on will lead somewhere undeniably painful..." Xanthers pitched with a grumble.

"Uh, duh! Because that's the side we fight for, good! People like you don't even have to ask us this question, we just know it by heart!" Yuna fired back.

"Your partner there... she's worried. Worried she'll be the one used for the "Metropolis" project, isn't she? I've got news for her, it isn't her I'm going to be using for my network scheme... it's the other," he said.

Yuna looked on in shock, Chiro jutting up as well.

"Yuna?!"

"Oh no you don't, I'm not gonna be used in any psycho pla- ahh?"

As Yuna was about to give her two cents back to the Chryston, she felt herself being picked up again by Xanthers' psychokinetic forces, his left hand raised.

Chiro ran over and began pulling at Yuna's arm. "No! Y- You can't have her, you monster!" she said as she tried and tried to push all of her strength into pulling Yuna back from the powers of the menace.

To her own surprise, Chiro's strength was at least making Yuna budge back as opposed to the opposing psychic force skidding the two ahead closer to the bars of the cell they were locked in.

"Give up... she'd want you to, you know?" Xanthers said.

Yuna immediately chimed back. "Chiro, don't! You know what's gonna happen if you do let go, one of us won't be the same!"

Chiro knew what Yuna was saying very well. Xanthers on the other hand, played to that disadvantage. Catching her off-guard, an invisible burst from the alien's head sent the Kamakura fangirl on a collision course against the wall with a loud grunt.

"CHIRO, NO!" Yuna shouted as she was being levitated forward by Xanthers, now finding herself right against the cell bars.

Xanthers reached into his cloak to pull out a vial filled half-full with a purple substance. Yuna and Chiro, upon getting up and clutching a bruised arm, knew what this was. "Helios".

"I already sensed your heart was one of the stronger ones in the city... a perfect fit for the Deathly Cure of mine," he explained as he opened the vial and looked to Yuna, all but her head frozen from Xanthers' unseen yet still strong grip.

He then leaned closer to Yuna, whom was already looking uneasy- "Open wide..."

Yuna wasn't going to let herself fall this easily. "Open wide? Okay, EAT THIS!" She raised her teeth and bit the hand of Xanthers that was trying to feed her the "Helios" with a loud growl.

He jerked back from the damage, but not enough to drop the vial, his attitude taking a turn from her move.

"Good one, Yuna! Never knew your teeth were as dangerous as your karate skills!"

"You're feisty... I'll give you that. But where you're going, you won't need any of those human characteristics..." he said with a tinge of irritation.

"_If_ you can get that gunk into me, that is!" Yuna said, shutting her mouth and closing her eyes, pushing herself to keep it that way.

Xanthers channelled the crystal on his head to force Yuna's mouth wide open. She fought back trying to keep it shut, but the powers Xanthers had were stronger than that of a human being's nerves, even one with a lot of will on her like Yuna. After another raise of his free arm, he drops the violet goo from the vial into Yuna's mouth.

However, she still fought back, giving her glares to the Chryston as she resisted swallowing the substance. She knew what would happen if she did, she was going to end up being unable to fight back.

"SWALLOW IT!" Xanthers yelled, his patience wearing thin with the young one. Yuna fiercely shook her head, muffling what sounded like "no way".

Chiro hobbled forward and and tried again to pry Yuna down from the doctor's powers, but that toss against the wall had her strength be cut down what with the pain of her bruised arm.

"SWALLOW IT BEFORE I MAKE YOU!" he yelled again, Yuna again shaking her head muffling the same noise.

"Fine... you've sealed your fate, you thorn in my side..." Xanthers said coldly, his eyes glowing the same deep blue that they did when his powers tore up the Dock hours earlier.

Yuna felt herself unable to control her throat, as much as she tried to fight it, she couldn't help but finally swallow the purple muck.

"_Stitch... anyone... help..."_ she thought in defeat as Xanthers let her down from the telekinetic hold, her eyes closed and her mouth agape. For all the fight she had going for her, she couldn't stop Xanthers forcing his plans down Yuna's throat. Literally.

Chiro rushed over to Yuna's side at her own pace, kneeling down to her friend. "Yuna! C'mon, speak to me!" she pleaded, shaking Yuna to try and come to.

Xanthers on the other hand tossed the vial onto the floor, his job finished. "I'm afraid that bull-headed girl you knew is now _my_ host. I may as well leave you two alone to get re-acquainted while I plot a course to the highest point of this urban jungle. Not only is she going to be that way for a long time, but this city is going to meet the "Metropolis"... " he said, now taking his leave from the prison chamber.

Chiro was already angry as he was leaving. "Hey! You messed with the wrong "ohana", dude! When Kyo and the Stitches get here, you'll be begging for mercy, maybe even worse! YOU HEAR ME?!" she called consistently as the Chryston mad doctor left the room, doors shutting behind him.

Her yells only left the familiar echoes Yuna heard before she fell. Chiro looked at herself a second, her yells especially. She sounded like Kyo in this situation. Was she being... brave?

Before she could wrap her head around such a thing, Yuna came first.

"Yuna, don't tell me that the "Helios" made you braindead!" she said. However, it was far from that when Yuna did come to.

By the time Yuna opened her eyes, she didn't look to be the same "idol" Chiro had known her to be. Her face looked deadpan as a permanent frown and a set of hollow brown eyes stared off into the distance, the light purged from Yuna's irises. One might have also seen a fair hint of purple in her eyes as she entered what "Helios" had planned for her.

"Yes... Chiro?" she asked in a monotone way.

"Yuna... Please tell me you're able to fight this thing..." Chiro looked on in worry.

Yuna's cold response said it all. "I can't, Chiro. I don't feel... well... I don't feel like I can fight it..."

Chiro looked in woe at her friend, now turned into a "Helios" host. She wished she could do something, but there's no way she could have figured it out on her own.

She dug through her overalls' pocket to pull out her own cell phone, Samsung-branded. Looking at the usual signal bars as they came up empty, she was able to realize that Xanthers had some kind of jamming signal in effect on his ship, making her unable to call or text Kyo for help at the moment. All she had by her side was Yuna and she wasn't doing so good...

"Just stay strong, Yuna... you know how this works. Us heroes will get the beat down onto Xanthers and then things'll be fine and dandy once again, dude! Just you wait!" she said, channelling the younger soul beside her had she not been in such a fugue state.

The islander couldn't give a positive response. "But how can things be fine... if I've fallen to this? If I've fallen to Xanthers, no one's safe... Face it... We're all doomed..."

Chiro looked over to the side of the floor and grabbed Yuna's bubbly blue hat, fitting it atop her own hair to try and keep it safe as she leaned her head up against Yuna's. Even with her "idol" under something terrible, the teen Yokoi remembered one of her teachings... "Ichariba Chodei".

"It'll get better, Yuna... you'll see..." Chiro said with a smile, trying to reassure her fallen friend.

"No, it won't... If "Helios" took me, it will take everyone..." the "Helios"-driven soul said, hiding her head between her knees in the sorrows the substance was feeding her.

It was the beginning of Xanthers' plan being set in motion. Take a strong heart and make it his "host". Then take it to the highest point and unleash the "Metropolis" project, causing absolute pandemonium as everything would become assimilated.

One of these steps was already complete, the other was being done as Xanthers was plotting a course to the tallest point in the city. Chiro only hoped that Kyozuki Yamada and the Stitches would be able to save them _and_ save Yuna from "Helios". She had to wonder how him and the others were keeping upon their separation and if a plan of their own was underway...

* * *

An hour later, Kyozuki opened the door up to his house's attic, one that was accessible from the roof of the hallway. He led Jumba and Pleakley up the way to the room about while the Stitches remained downstairs, to which the Kweltikwan was able to fit through.

The attic was a dusty sort covered in forgotten belongings of the Yamada family- broken surfboards, several knick-knacks and appliances and other things among the dim room only lit by the window in the corner bringing in the light from outside, however low it was due to the clouds looming.

"What is this very filthy place?" Pleakley asked.

Kyo couldn't help but feel a little insulted by the word "filthy", but knowing both of the Admins weren't of Earth, he pressed onward.

"Mm... well, this is our attic. We haven't really had much use for this place since our Dad went into the hospital, so it's been collecting dust ever since," Kyo explained.

"Ugh... by Earth standards, this is totally something I'm going to have to clean up by any means necessary! This just won't do-"

Pleakley was interrupted by Jumba who bumped himself in past the ranting Plogonarian.

"Excellent! This wooden stock reminds me of home! Thank you, teenage boy!" he said, shaking Kyo's hand.

He rubbed the back of his head in a modest way. After all, the urban heart was glad someone appreciated his offer of a room at least. "Heheh, don't mention it, dude!"

"This is why we were total opposites at the Federation's community college..." the Plogonarian sighed. He set the green suitcase onto an empty corner of the room, one not cluttered with odd belongings and clicked the lock on the green luggage.

Clicks and clacks resounded from the green suitcase as the group. "You might wish to step back, teenage boy..." Jumba urged, as Kyo stepped back near Jumba and Pleakley.

In a matter of seconds, the suitcase unfolded and burst out a flow of smoke from inside.

Kyo couldn't help but cough at the smoke, he was human after all. "W- What the heck, dude? Warn a guy before you smokescreen my house!"

"Wait just a second, teenage boy..." Jumba reassured Kyo.

As the smoke cleared out from the room's right half, it was revealed that the suitcase had transformed into a green-coated lab room, following suit in the color of the ship. Computers and equipment adorned the cubic mobile lab, one that this alternate Admin Jumba Jookiba felt right at home at.

Kyo looked surprised at this, it was alien- very much like the TV shows and the movies he'd seen Jumba in, but lightweight enough that it wouldn't have caved the traditional house he and Uncle Haka lived in in. The attic had become one half forgotten junk, one half scientific marvel.

"Duuuuuude..." Kyo said in awe.

Jumba chuckled as he walked right from the wood of the attic onto the green of the lab. "Home sweet lab, am I right?" he said, seating himself on a trusty lab chair that fit his girth as Pleakley also walked on.

Kyo shrugged the awe of the lab away as Jumba went right to his computer screens. "Well, now that we're set up here, hopefully you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me, Jumba?"

"Sure! Fire away, teenage boy!"

"Xanthers... how was he able to tear up the entirety of that city square and listen in on us so easily? I know from what Stitch showed me Chrystons are powerful psychics, but it couldn't be to that extent!" the Yamada boy asked.

"Xanthers was always a tricky sort. And a normal Chrystek ship would never give him that potential power. But he enhanced that Chrystek of his, the wires hanging from around are connected to a form of psychokinetic modification unit in his ship. His destruction of the city square and use of telekinesis to read minds certainly came from him using that very modification unit and the moment those wires around the ship fall when his creation goes active, that amplifier goes with it."

"So, away from that one little thing on his ship, he's not as powerful?" Kyo curiously asked.

"Oh, definitely. A common Chryston is able to read minds and use psychokinesis. With enough mastery, they're able to use it to the extent Xanthers did against all of us. But while he is extreme, he can be taken down. His powers are only limited to so many things around him..." Jumba explained.

"But shouldn't we be focusing on the "Metropolis" project? I can't bear to think those two girls, let alone the entire city here could be in trouble because of that mad man!" Pleakley butted in the scientific questionnaire.

The Kweltikwan nodded. "Yes... that is first worry, besting the "Helios" should it be one of them has become a host. Then we'll worry about the Chryston later."

Almost as if it was on some terrible cue, a loud yell came from downstairs.

"KYOZUKI YAMADA! I'D HATE TO BRING UP UNCLE'S INTUITION, BUT COME DOWN HERE AND SEE THIS!" the voice yelled shakily.

Pleakley and Kyo had run down to the Yamada's living room to find the apparent source.

Both of the Stitches, along with the straw-hatted Uncle Haka looked on at the Sony television set against the wall in alarm at what was shown on the other side of the screen as Kyo and Pleakley joined them.

"Issa naga beautifa, dude..." Kyo's Stitch said. Yuna's Stitch only added a nod and a glare.

On the television screen, a reporter was in the middle of explaining what looked, from the live picture on the opposite side of the screen- to be a purple blob that surrounded around the legs of Kotokan Tower and spread out to the area around, trees and other smaller posts getting engulfed in its multiplying form.

It looked like the mass was attached like flesh to a pink-ish core in the center of the Eiffel Tower-like structure, with cords unhooked and connected to the tower legs from the Chrystek high above Kotokan, matching what Jumba explained about the amplifier going offline.

Even worse, the amorphous thing was growing slowly yet surely outward to more of the world, its murky essence shifting between the violets and purples within. The words of the reporter though confirmed everyone's suspicions of the terror that was going on outside.

"_To those within the Kamakura area, we ask that you find a place of shelter! Just minutes ago, one of our news rovers in the air caught what looked like cartoon star Yuna Kamihara on the roof of Kotokan Tower and what looked of a purple liquid in front of her. Beside her was confirmed to be daughter of Grant Yokoi, Chiro Yokoi- known for her bustling work at the family run Yokoi Breads. Before the feed was stopped though, the liquid began to grow out at a surprising rate, transforming into what is now covering Kotokan Tower. It is assumed that the two females are stuck inside of the core dead center of the impending purple chaos that is growing outward into the city. We advise everyone to stay away, as it is believed that this is all connected to the alien spacecraft connected to the purple mass above the city. Fiction is beginning to merge with reality here in Kamakura and the rest of the world is staring baffled. For TV Asahi News..."_

The group- Kyo, Pleakley, the elder Haka and the Stitches all watched in complete shock as the report ended. The blob at the far-northern part of the city had only one cause. Not to mention, he took one of their own as "host".

"Yuna! Naga takabah!" Yuna's Stitch called out in his anger.

"That's gotta be "Helios"- isn't it, Stitch?"

"Ih... at least, meega think so!"

"I figured... plus, with Yuna already seen in public via the news, there goes our sense of cover we've kept up for so long..."

"Ih..." both Kyo and his partner 626 had agreed to themselves.

Haka though, looked to his relative Kyo in worry.

"Kyo... are you going to be going out there to fight that thing with Stitch?" he asked, his usual smiling demeanour thrown off for a moment.

"We aren't fighting that thing, since it'd wipe the floor with us... but we're gonna be fighting against who dropped it into Kamakura, that's for sure, dude..." the teen nodded.

Uncle gave a low look to him, he knew when he said that, things weren't going to be easy for him and Stitch.

"I know you look up to your "idols" and all... but this isn't a TV show... this is reality. Are you sure you're willing to risk it, Kyozuki?" he asked.

The Yamada boy only nodded with a big smile to his guardian. "Don't you worry about me, Haka... Stitch and I? We won't stop 'til the city's back to normal... well, as normal as it can be for a buncha us on the wave, you know?" he chuckled to the elder.

"Was it ever normal, gaba ee?" Yuna's Stitch quipped in.

Uncle Haka could see Kyozuki's confidence in him. His gut said to hold the boy back for his own safety, but he knew to forget what his gut told him and give the Yamada boy the vote he surely needed- not one against him, one _with_ him.

The eldest smiled to the younger boy.

"Then go show that alien what you and a celebrity like Stitch are made of! Especially two of 'em!"

"Seriously, Uncle?"

"Yeah, seriously! Would I lie about you kicking alien keister? An Uncle knows these things! Now get on with your plan before Kamakura's under purple sludge, dude!" he said, urging Kyo along.

He smiled back at Haka. "Thanks, dude... we'll do our hardest!"

"_I'll come back... I'll come and get you, we can run away tonight..."_

Kyo recognized that as his Disney phone's ringtone.

"Wolf Club... no one else's in the room but mine..." he uttered, picking it up and giving his own greeting to whoever was on the end.

"I dunno, that ringtone sounds pretty spiffy..." Pleakley followed.

"Kyo, it's Jonathan... I wanted to call and let you know me and my P.S.Y.C.H team currently have a citywide evacuation underway given that purple Jell-O that has shown up..."

"Jonathan! Dude, you can't tell how happy I am to hear you! Uhh... but where are you gonna lead everyone?"

"Well... that's where you're gonna help me, kid. You know this city's lifestyle... what's the one place that'd be safe and sound from that gelatin? And hurry, before that thing grows out of control and people actually get caught in the crossfire..."

Kyozuki gave it some thought to Mr. Pride before it dawned on him. What did the people of Kamakura absolutely adore beyond the iconic surfer's den of the beach? The "flash-mobs". And he knew just the one who could help in the evacuation of the Kamakura city, knowing of the several cell phones and communications in the area. It was the digital era after all.

"Jonathan, call up the number 0467-41-1337. That's my friend Zane, if you get in touch with him, maybe you guys can double up and make it seem like a DJ party's happening down at the Kamakura beach! Sure, they'd show up in confusion as to why there's no party, but as soon as you say what's going on, there's no way they'll turn tail. Trust me, I know Kamakurans, dude..."

"Kid, that's false advertising... but I like it. I'm gonna get to that immediately before anyone gets hurt in the line of that dark slime's path. Thanks, Kyo... I certainly hope you have a plan to stop this along with your friends..."

Kyo nodded as Jonathan hung up, stuffing the phone in his pocket as the ears folded down on the device.

"Well... it's now or never, we've gotta scheme something up with Jumba on how to stop that glob from eating our city alive for Xanthers' plans... If he knew about Xanthers, there's a shot he might know how to stop this "Helios" onslaught without us getting close to that thing, right?" he asked both Stitches.

The two Experiments excessively nodded.

"Ih! Issa time to get Yuna back!"

"Meega with tay 100%, bro..."

Kyo, the Stitches and Pleakley ran up the pull-down stairs to the attic as Haka looked their way upon their leave.

"You're reminding me more and more of your Dad, Kyo... he'd pull moves like this all the time. That's why ya looked up to him. Heck, you could run the Yamada surf shack someday... But maybe I'm looking too far ahead?" he said with a chuckle, tilting his straw hat up and feeling rather proud of the boy he had a hand in raising.

From hereon in, it was all on them to stop a cataclysm from growing out of hand...

* * *

Over the course of minutes as the clock struck midnight, the "Helios" mass had grown out from the pile merely surrounding the area of Kotokan to another yard of the cityscape nearby. The structures caught in the path of the sludge teetered and tilted by the force of the blob pushing all around them. It was to be believed in another hour, a quarter of Kamakura would be engulfed...

The Astral Jumpers had watched from the distance at the danger zone the "Helios" was creating from a building they knew as familiar down near Kamakura Dock. While it was shut down from the public, they weren't necessarily the ordinary public. They wouldn't have known what the duo had done in their time.

Regardless, the building was familiar to the duo because of the door Yai decided to "mark" with their Tantalog-esque symbol, it still hanging on the rooftop door.

"Kyohaku, what is that purple mess?" Yaiko had asked her partner, having never seen anything like it in her few years of spacial travel.

The doppelganger Stitch shook his head, for once he didn't have an answer to give the young soul. "Naga know... but meega know we should keep our distance like we already are..."

"I can only assume it was this Chryston's work... and if that's the case, we shouldn't be a part of it. Whether this world makes it out alive or not is none of our concern. In fact, Kyohaku- I think it's time we up and left," Yai concluded.

"Gaba? Left?" Kyohaku had asked the girl.

She nodded, knowing her answer after leaving from Opion days ago. "Yeah, left... that girl from the Tri-Rune has already seen me too many times, her suspicions could be dangerous to our plans if she gets too deep... plus, it's almost time for our true intent to go live. You know what I mean, yes?" Yai followed with a wink and a smirk.

Kyohaku knew immediately what she meant, the very thing they had been hanging out in the alleys of Kamakura for, let alone dumpster diving near Kotokan before the "Helios" began to spread. A plan that carried their motive to show the Federation where they went wrong.

"Ih... Codename Nuntium... the very thing we were digging in the trash for."

Yai nodded at this, her cold shoulder showing.

"Yes, that... you said before you were ready to install the transmitter for Nuntium in a good place?" she inquired. Kyohaku gave another nod.

"Ih... issa in a dumpster nearby that ice cream shop before we took to higher ground. Provided blob naga takes it out... we should be still in business..."

Yai nodded again, her chuckling turning into a laugh and a snort after- "This is all coming together... After all these doings against the Galactic Federation and company, Nuntium will be the be-all end-all of our plans... All those transmitters we've placed across the universe won't be in vain, isn't that right, Kyohaku?"

Kyohaku only gave a modest look in return. "Yes... but gaba ee? Gaba the big idea tay have after this all goes into effect?"

Yai looked at him with a cross of her arms, very much in thought. "We'll figure that out once Nuntium is done. Although, I've remember from my colony something that'd give us enough power to turn the tables on what we're up against... But no matter, for now, we keep this on the low. We don't need anyone, especially anyone on the side of the Federation figuring out about Nuntium before we put it into execution. Correct?" she quizzed her Jumper opposite.

"Ih... meega know the plan, tay'll put _that_ into effect when they least expect it," the opposite said, pointing out the red gem that laid on the very mechanism that read Yai's Cosmo's Cards.

The flaxen-haired girl looked to her partner once more. "Well... with all that said and done, shall we take our modest leave?" she asked, giving a soft smile to Kyohaku Stitch.

The other nodded, knowing Yai wouldn't have given her "thanks" or compliment him. It wasn't anything personal, but with her having been served the worst in life with A-113 and the galactic travels following, her mood took several a shift down to dissonant.

Kyohaku Stitch took his claw and scratched into the thin air near the center of the building. Much like before, it wasn't just a swipe for nothing, as a gateway was created and cleaved open by that of Kyohaku's prototype claw, opening up an aperture to another realm entirely.

"The co-ordinates are exact this time... now maka maka," he said, the Variated Experiment taking no time in leaping through the portal as it hung open for Yai to leave through.

Yai though, before she left, looked back to Kamakura in a form of pity. She wasn't of good will, but part of her mind yelled at her to do something to help out against this growing menace "Helios". Again, it was the briefest pause for a criminal so cold and distant- a hint that maybe she wasn't all bad somewhere in that heart of hers. She could've listened to her head if she so wanted to, she was still human...

...But she didn't. She instead turned around, not letting her worry take her over as she walked into the portal her Jumper partner opened, it closing behind her. She threw away whatever she was feeling over the city and left, clearly more concerned for her own plans than with the lives of thousands in a city that seemed in peril.

All that was left from the Jumpers being in Kamakura was a transmitter in one of the dumpsters near Aisu Machi and that of their eclectic insignia on the door on the roof of a dockside building, things that clearly weren't of any help to the city in their time of need.

Although, what was Codename Nuntium? It needed transmitters and had to involve the real United Galactic Federation, yes- but what was it that the two criminal minds were planning for not just the parallel realm of Kamakura, but the universe beyond? Now certainly wasn't the time to find out...

* * *

"Multiplicity at its finest... Oy gevalt..."

Jumba Jookiba said staring at his computer screen in his lab, Kyozuki and the Stitches having joined him minutes ago. Being as it was already late at night, Kyo decided it best to try and keep himself awake via a caffeinated energy drink, its label reading "Monster".

He wished he could have given something to either of the Stitches, but he knew what would have occurred if he did- completely manic activity from either Experiments, something that would have hindered their chances to fix what "Helios" had started due to the devastation the Experiments would've caused.

Luckily, the two cute and fluffy aliens didn't look like they needed anything like that, what with having nocturnal senses from one of the hundreds of species that went into their creation in their systems.

On the lab's computer screen, the group looked at a birds-eye view map of Kamakura, it showing a massive amount of red dots near the main beach, showing P.S.Y.C.H had succeeded in their intent to get the city folk down to safe ground. Or at least, safer than what would've happened if they stayed in the city with what Jumba had explained about "Helios".

Speaking of "Helios", the screen showed that the growing violet threat had covered a small chunk of the city from Kotokan Tower where the purple gunk was connected to the Chrystek and the core to farther out, where it looked like in another hour leading into the morning hours, the alien mass would have leaked into the Gozan and the natural Genjiyama Park.

"See, I assume in matter of 24 hours... Kamakura will have been swallowed whole by this, even those humanoids on the beach. Xanthers, you are psychopath, I hope you realize this..." Jumba said, cursing the opposite scientist.

"To Katuna with that logic! I bet the two of these little monsters, let alone the fancy human boy want that to happen!" Pleakley retorted.

Kyo looked at him wondering how in the world he knew of a certain sand planet from a TV special, but he nodded regardless.

Yuna's own Stitch joined into Pleakley's protest. "Ih! Meega want Yuna back, naga this purple stuff from fridge of orange juice ad!"

Kyo noticed how tense his own Stitch was getting. His low growl, his eyes going in and out of their usually timid state. He knew his Experiment wasn't alike Yuna's, who was a little more of a troublemaker and a outgoing soul for an alien made for pure destruction.

Kyo's on the other hand, he had raised with a sense of lightening him up. His was a savage and feral genetic Experiment, with the intent to hurt and to destroy still in his blood. It just took the heart of the "master surfer" near him to stop that and get some control.

"Dude..." Kyozuki said, putting a hand on his Stitch, who in turn quelled at his touch and looked at him.

"Don't worry... we'll give that mad doctor a piece of his mind soon. First, like Jumba said before, our friends..." he said kindly.

His Stitch, knowing the Kamakuran meant the universe in changing him from bad to good, breathed in and nodded. "Ih... sokka..."

"Don't mention it, dude... I know well that this is a stressful time..." Kyo said, rubbing his dark blue partner's back before he stood back up.

"So, Jumba- my question is, does that thing have a weakness? You seemed to remember every other bit and piece about that Doctor Helios' files, how 'bout a weakness before Kamakura ends up becoming a core part of you-know-who's science experiment?" Kyo asked the Admin of this universe's broken Federation force.

The Kweltikwan looked in thought, stroking his wide chin.

"Well... there are two weaknesses, but they have to be applied equally, one before the other..." he said.

"Really? Two?"

"Yes, teenage boy... two. See, upon thorough scan, I've come to the analytic conclusion that the weakness of the "Metropolis" project is positive solution of this..." Jumba had explained to the young Yamada, pausing.

"Sodium."

The others looked in confusion.

"Really? Salt?" Pleakley asked, dumbfounded by such a simple weakness for a dangerous scientific anomaly looking to use anything and everything it could get like "Helios".

"Not just any salt, my Admin partner... salt mixed with compound H20. As it turns out, saltwater is very major weakness to the element of "Helios", able to break it down quickly and without harm. Granted ecosystems might be little shaky from using such means, but it should deal with the element and stop it from further multiplicity..." Jumba continued.

Kyo cut into this instantly. "But the only saltwater we have's the ocean out farther right now, dude! How are we gonna bring that to break down that thing before it finds more hook ups to feed itself with?" he said, gutted.

"That's... not the only saltwater in the area, teenage boy..." Jumba said with a simple smirk.

Yuna's Stitch tilted his head at this answer- "Gaba ee? Naga blabla?"

The Administrator Jumba cleared his throat- "Rainwater has been said to have trace elements of salt in it if near an ocean or any place with high sodium compound, yes?"

Kyo's eyes widened, him fixing his glasses after. "...Rainwater has traces of salt near the ocean, DUDE! You're a genius!"

"Eheh... "evil genius", keesa may guess?" Yuna's Stitch corrected Kyo.

The teen knew what with the clouds rolling over the sky above tonight, it would've rained at some point. He just didn't know when. However, an opposite thought dawned on the young teenager's mind, knowing he and Stitch couldn't go out there to fight the thing like any normal enemy from one of his films or TV programs.

"Uhh... One question... would that rainwater melt down that freaky core the blob's connected to?"

Jumba instantly shook his head. "That central core has too much inner workings to it. Xanthers genetically modified that core so it could be extreme engine to his crazy "network", fuelling the shifting mass no matter what happens. Provided we were able to break the main "Helios" spectrum and send gelatinous creation packing, if the core was still active, it would merely create more "Helios" because of the grasp on so-called "host", that little girl."

Kyo looked on at the Admin. "I suppose that's where the second weakness comes in?" he asked.

Jookiba nodded. "Yes, teenage boy, let me explain", he paused.

"The core was made to ward off any radio waves or outside Earthly connections from world in order to make its own for the "host" out of the sole intent of keeping him... or her, under emotional lock and key. This means your ordinary Earth cell phone or radio won't work in there, as is only affecting element that is part of "Metropolis" project", the Kweltikwan stated.

Kyo looked to his Disney Mobile phone again. "Dang... guess that I can't contact Chiro with my phone, huh?"

"Yes. See, the only thing that would break the "host" and its connection to the core is the one true thing it cares for. Something that close to heart of "host" will cause the thing to shut down. Then and only then we would just have to hope that it rains tonight..."

It was then the word dawned on Pleakley. "Earthly".

"Hey, hold up just a comet-chasing minute! You said "Earthly" devices, didn't you, Jumba? What if there was any devices that weren't of this Earth in that core? Maybe then we'd have a shot at taking that thing down!" the Plogonarian wondered.

This caused Kyo to jerk up in excitement. He had an idea.

"Earthly"? ...Hold on... That's it, dude! I've got it!"

"You've got what? Case of the jitters, teenage boy?"

"No, no, Jumba! I have an idea about how we can get in touch with Chiro in that core! Maybe even perk Yuna back to normal!" the human exclaimed to the alien scientist.

"What about Yuna's Good Deed Memory?" Kyo asked with a smile.

Yuna's Experiment 626 instantly perked up at the sound of this, gasping. "YUNA'S MEMORY! Akata!" the genetic creature exclaimed.

"Good... Deed... Memory, you say? Explain..." Jumba said, bewildered at the idea of such a device.

"Yuna has this PDA-like device called a Good Deed Memory on her. You... or actually, another version of you made it for her and it's kinda got its own wavelength, plus a map system, music services, instant messaging and calls, etcetra etcetra- anyways, that's not important! If that core stops "Earthly" signals, Yuna's own device should get a total bypass, dude!" Kyo said, bringing his idea full-circle to the "evil genius" before him.

"Are you sure the other human girl in there would take such notice? And what in the world would I even do to contact such little girl's personal device?" he asked, turning in his lab chair to meet the teenager's glassed eyes.

Kyo bumped over Jumba with a smirk, taking to the keys of the alien computer. "Allow me!" he chuckled, typing at a quick-fire rate a series of numbers from the Tantalog keys of his computer. "Wait, you wouldn't know about computers like this! What if you-"

"Access of call reach: Yuna Kamihara's personal Good Deed Memory device..." the computer said after Kyozuki finished his typing.

Jumba and Pleakley looked to Kyo stunned at what he just did. "What? I've watched Stitch's adventures longer than any sane person would- of course I would know the code of a Good Deed Memory! Granted, the numbers are different between both hers and Sae's, but it's there!" he said, stopping a moment.

"And don't ask me for Sasha's, I wouldn't know hers off the bat like Yuna's. Besides, I only know that number from something microscopic in one of the episodes... It's the little details..."

"Well, if we're going to take down a evolving entity like "Helios", we have to start with first step..." the Kweltikwan said, pressing a button and starting a call with the device within the core of the madness.

Kyo nodded to himself. "Right... step one's breaking Yuna outta that core nonsense... then step two? We do a rain dance and hope for the best for Chiro and Yuna before the madness starts again..."

All eyes- between Stitch, alien and humankind alike were on Jumba's computer screen on the green lab of the attic, as it attempted to connect to Yuna's own device from within a terror zone that was growing by the hour. The others crossed their hearts, hoping that Chiro would've heard the device ring a mile away...

* * *

The inside of the "Helios" core was basic, a magenta void to match the sphere that powered the growing nightmare outside. Within this blank space, Chiro and the "Helios host" Yuna sat, Chiro trying more and more to get her friend turned around from the influence the element seemed to force-feed her.

She fixed the bubbly hat of Yuna's atop her head as she continued to find a way to get to the younger one that would have toppled over the mad doctor's plan.

"Yuna! You've taken worse in your life, I know you have, dude! And I know you have the power to be able to turn this around! Please!" Chiro budged Yuna, who sat hugging her legs in depressed way.

"Just... leave me alone... You know, like I should've been my whole life..." Yuna said.

Clearly, the "Helios" fed bad memories into her head, ones that she had tried to leave in the past.

Chiro looked in worry at Yuna, just as much as down as the hollow-eyed tomboy. "Why... why won't you fight back like you would on TV?"

...That was until the familiar 5-note chime of the Good Deed Memory filled the air. Chiro immediately looked down Yuna's pocket. Not caring about the idea of stealing her device for one minute, Chiro grabbed out the device from Yuna's left pocket, the Kamihara conduit too depressed to care, let alone notice.

Chiro looked at the device to see the blue ears perk right up, a mail icon and a question mark showing up on the screen before it. Pressing a single button, Chiro was determined to figure out who was able to get through in here where her cell phone failed.

"Hello? This is working, yes?" a familiar voice cut in.

"Jumba!?"

Chiro seemed shocked at who it was.

Jumba Jookiba had succeeded in getting into touch with Yuna's Good Deed Memory after Kyozuki had set up the connection to it. Turns out their hunch was right, only Earth devices were affected by the core.

"That's me, young girl!"

"Chiro, you're alright! Ohh... you had me worried you'd be in a total wipeout, dude!" Kyo said with relief.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Yuna on the other hand isn't. I keep trying to get through to her, but every attempt she just shrugs me off and goes on about how "Helios" is gonna destroy everything and how she should just be all alone..." Chiro explained.

Jumba nodded, Yuna's Stitch easing into the frame of the Memory's screen. "Is sounding like little girl is already deep into "host" process. Tell me, how long has she been under?"

"At least three or four hours. She went after twilight and it's just past midnight now, dudes..." Chiro told to Jumba.

Yuna's Stitch went on- "Tay are gonna have to do our first job for us, Chiro!"

"What? What do you mean "first job", I can't do much in here! What makes you think I can?"

Kyo again looked into the frame of Jumba's computer, or to Chiro, the Memory screen. "Chiro, our Admin here's figured out the weakness of that purple junk. And that starts with you. You gotta use what Yuna loves most and conk her out of the "host" process! Then it'll stop the core!" he brought forth.

"But what happens if the core breaks and we fall into the "Helios"? Then it's all over for us, dude!" the opposite teen asked.

Kyo reassured her. "Just trust us! It's getting cloudy over Kamakura right now and if the core bursts at just the right time, it might end up raining and take out the most of what's already in the city!"

"You mean to tell me rainwater's gonna destroy that stuff?"

"I know, it's pretty hard to believe! But Jumba says because we live near the ocean, salt could get mixed in with the rain and break it down once it starts raining! We just gotta get you to break Yuna out of that thing's control and the rest should be smooth sailing!" Kyozuki told the disbelieving girl.

"But how do I do that? What would break something like that? I've tried everything, she just keeps being irreversibly sad, dude!" Chiro exclaimed.

"Gaba tried what was closest to her? Gaba ee?" Yuna's Stitch explained with a smile through the screen of the girl's device.

Chiro looked surprised. Much like Kyo knew, she knew what would've swayed Yuna in the heart of danger. Something she knew near and dear to her heart.

That wasn't the only thing near though. As Yuna sat in isolated way by herself and Chiro talked to the others via the Good Deed Memory, the slosh of "Helios" began to resound from behind her, causing her eyes to jerk up.

Turning, she caught wind of what made the sound, or rather what it had become...

The slimy sound of "Helios" seemed to come from what looked like... Yuna. But it wasn't her. Whereas the real her in the guise of her "Flo" disguise sat nearby, this odd duplicate of her stood there like a crooked puppet dressed in the girl's usual outfit of a floral shirt and slacks, her bare feet on the ground of the pink void they were in. What was the most unsettling part were the dead purple eyes of this clone and the insane grin that she bore to Chiro.

"Was...I interrupting something?" she said, mustering a rather demented chuckle after, taking on a pitch-perfect mimicking of Yuna's own voice.

Jumba heard this on the other end of the Memory. He knew what was going on instantly from the sound of the third girl's voice. "Oh no... little girl's been part of the "Helios" process for too long..." he uttered, Chiro hearing him.

"What?! What do you mean, Jumba?"

"This thing has sapped the young girl's emotions to point where it is starting to replicate her for sake of self-defense... recall my explanation before the Chryston attacked us?" he said. Chiro nodded after at his explanation, remembering just what he had said about the "Metropolis" project duplicating the "host" with enough exposure.

"Listen... I'm gonna go. I promise I'll get Yuna back to the way she is, Jumba..."

"I know you will, teen girl... Good luck..." Jumba said as Chiro's finger hit the alien device's star button.

Chiro stuffed the Good Deed Memory in her pocket, ending the call and meeting the unrealistic eyes of this second Yuna. It had turned into a stand-off between the two...

"...You humans... are confusing creatures, you know that? Relying on one another so aimlessly and so diligently. Yet you turn around and backstab one another on a dime because of greed. One by one, you always turn out the same- your ill intent contaminating every relationship you've had..." the being stated, chuckling to herself rather confidently.

"And? You think you know humanity so well?" Chiro said, a bit on the afraid side as she stared down the other.

"...I've learnt enough within the last few hours... 9:37pm, Yokoi Breads. Your father, Grant- seems to be worried sick over you. He's thought about cutting off ties with the Yamada family, including the boy you've been crushing on since grade school. 10:42pm, Yamada household. Kyozuki thought of leaving you behind to go save his father at Kazuka Hospital. 11:56pm..." the drone went on and on about things that supposedly happened, exact time frames too.

Chiro's eyes twitched, she knew this apparition was lying. "SHUT UP! I know you're lying to me just so I'll give up and join Yuna! It's not gonna work! You've got her pinned down via some kinda chemical mess, but you'll never pin me down!"

"...Oh well. I tried. After downloading enough surveillance data from the city, you would assume any human would snap at the truth of the matter. That every one of you fleshlings betray one another at some point. No matter... every single soul in this city will become a part of the "Helios" network Xanthers has planned. A "metropolis" under his command, if you will. And they will enjoy it! How would it feel to be part of something that is all knowing, all powerful even? I'm sure anybody in their lifetime, especially a human being would love it!" she followed with a cackle to herself, keeping the grin she kept.

Her grin was short-lived though, as Chiro looked sternly to her. She wasn't having any of this entity's propaganda-esque statements.

"And you think _you_ know the truth? Be real here and think logically, human... know your place..." the second Yuna said, sidestepping and watching Chiro with that hollow gaze ever still.

"I do. I know my friends wouldn't abandon me in a time where the city needs it. I certainly haven't abandoned Yuna either in her time of need. And I know for sure that you... oohoho, _you_ of all people have no right using one of my friends, let alone my "idols" as a surrogate for what you've got planned! You're a total phony, dude! And I see right through you, no matter what you've downloaded or known from whatever you've got in that ever-growing and ever-evolving goop, I know you've got no right to stare down at us like this! Something can only grow for so long before it falls... and I'm gonna stop that endless growth by taking Yuna with me! I'll die before you can make me a part of that stupid "network"! You... you monster!" Chiro yelled, allowing what was seen as bravery through her words. She looked angrily to the "Helios"-induced clone of her "idol" watching her every move.

The drone only smirked at Chiro. "...Well. You said it yourself. You'd die before you joined us. You brought this on yourself, Earthling..."

These last words caused the Yuna clone's eyes to go yellow, turning her irises into feral lines down the girl's eyes. Her height shifted, becoming taller than Chiro at this point and dwarfing over the real Yuna's height.

Her hands and arms jerked and transformed, becoming odd purple claws meeting the tan skin of the girl this thing had replicated. Her bare feet jolting out of way and becoming rather jilted forms of themselves. Adding more to the monstrous transformation, the clone's face took what would've been Yuna's usual nose, ears, hair and face, spiking them out in a lethal-looking manner.

Finally, her mouth and teeth transformed into a horrific cubic mouth and behind her, a pair of spiky wings sprouted from the monster's back. The being had turned from a doppelganger of Yuna Kamihara into a monster that mixed Yuna's attributes and turned them into a nightmare, purple and red colors mixed into the extended limbs of the beast.

Its eyes set onto Chiro as its demented take on Yuna's own vocal chords let out a shrill yell...

"_NOW DIE WHILE YOU HAVE SOME DIGNITY LEFT IN YOU, HUMAN FILTH!"_

Chiro, looking in fear, leaped out of the way as the monster Kamihara flew at her in a form of bloodlust.

It was clear what she had to do, get Yuna back to herself before this traumatizing "Helios" self-defense mechanism killed her and before worse could happen to the city below. She didn't want to think about the idea of more of these Yuna clones down in Kamakura causing pandemonium.

Her head tilted over to Yuna in the corner of the chaos.

"Yuna, you have to fight this! Before this thing actually kills me!" she yelled to the girl in her fugue state.

"I can't though! What makes you think I can? I'm just... a pawn in his game..." she said, forced into defeat by the chemical signs of "Helios".

The monstrous duplicate turned around, flying for Chiro. _"LET YOUR FEAR GIVE IN SO I CAN MAKE THIS QUICK!" _the creature yelled, taking a swipe for Chiro again.

Again, she leapt out of harm's way, though one could tell the duplicate was catching onto her moves.

Chiro tried again, trying to not only fight her fear of standing at death's door, but against the monster chasing her.

"Yuna, you can fight this! I know you care about all of us and if you cared, you would stop this mess, dudette!" she yelled.

"Quit trying to, I know I'm useless! I know there's no way out of this!" the Kamihara girl bluntly said again in monotone way.

Something tackled over Chiro after this, sending her sliding across the magenta floor of the core.

Leaning over the girl's body, the "Helios" spawn eyed her, its yellow eyes and twisted version of Yuna's face looking deep into Chiro's scared eyes. She was trying her best to be brave, she really was- but fighting against something that could give children nightmares kept her at bay.

The monster raised its human-met-"Helios" claw, ready to strike down Chiro and deliver the final blow. _"Ready to meet destiny where it sits, Earthling? Because your destiny is death..."_ it said out of its cubic mouth, drool oozing out.

Chiro was scared, but she knew she only had one last thing to resort to as a few drops of the monster's spit fell near her. It was what she was going to say when Stitch said "closest thing to her".

As her eyes teared up, she gave one last yell before the monstrosity carved her a new one...

"WHAT ABOUT "OHANA", YUNA!?"

Yuna turned her head up after this. She was slowly met with something she recognized. "...O- Ohana?"

The Yuna-monster's claw trembled, knowing its power was starting to fall apart with its "host" starting to slip.

"_WHAT!? No!"_ it yelled, its yellow eyes narrowing to try and deliver that final blow it so desperately wanted to give to the Yokoi girl.

"Y- Yeah, Yuna! "Ichariba Ohana"! It... means... "meet once... family forever"... right?" Chiro explained, half in tears.

Yuna looked in her own world as the tense situation lingered with the monster looming over Chiro... but in reality, she was being met with something far different within the reaches of her mind...

* * *

Inside of Yuna's head at that moment, she pictured a pitch black realm... A smaller version of Yuna ran and ran through this black space, trying to mask her tears from the terrors that surrounded her. It was crazy to think that even then, the young girl had warn a smaller variation of what she usually had worn today, her Gram seemed versatile with her wardrobe. Although, she had to have been 6-years-old in this "Helios"-induced vision, reliving a point of her life where she had been most vulnerable.

Thunder rolled and lightning struck the ground nearby, terrifying the poor girl with a scream. In the flash of the lightning, a song was heard as the silhouette of a faceless yet brown-haired woman was seen in the instant it did strike.

"_Baby mine... don't you cry... baby mine, dry your eyes..."_

Her Mom had sang that song to her when she was only a baby. It comforted her as a memoir for someone who wasn't there in life. While it left a hole she couldn't fill in life, she made due with her grandparents later, especially Obaa. But there was barely any time for her to stay in place and feel comforted, she kept running away, the tears still coming down the young one's face.

Next, crashing waves seemed to roll about the edge of what felt like a drop off. The sight of a boat cutting through the waves of what looked to be a pitch black ocean was seen. There, an older man dressed in a blue shirt and tan pants waved outward at what would have been her, his black hair blowing and his glasses watching her with a smile. A mirror of her own voice seemed to echo as the ship seemed to sail on...

"_Don't go, Daddy! Daddy!"_ her mirrored voice cried.

Her Dad left her at the age of six for his job as an oceanographer. And while Yuna had later taken his knowledge of the ocean for herself and learned to become an expert swimmer because of her Gramps, the very thought that her Dad left her behind still lingered with her. Even the trips he forgot, Aguni included. Still, she ran far away.

Again, lightning struck the black reaches from all angles, scaring the young one senseless. One gigantic flash struck the black down as Yuna huddled and hugged herself in defeat. The girl was always scared of thunder and lightning, even today. The flash, the sound, the mere thought set her off. Even more, she was scared that she'd be alone, after her Mom died and her Dad left her there, leaving for his own work.

As her twin fears set in, she felt like nothing would've saved her from feeling this depressed, like she'd be forever trapped in this "Helios" dream, reliving a time in her life she felt like everything had gone wrong...

As the young girl laid shivering in her fears, a comforting tan hand came from out of nowhere and held her shoulder.

"Hey... hey, don't cry..." Yuna had to look up to see who it was, her eyes still wet from crying in this dark place.

Standing before her was... Yuna. It was her at her current age of 10 with a modest smile, her height and appearance double that of the smaller. The younger Kamihara half her size rubbed her eyes.

"W- Who are you? Are you gonna try and scare me?"

"No, no... I am you, silly! And you don't have to be scared!" she explained to her opposite. She grabbed both her hands and stood the younger her up.

"Listen, you don't need to worry anymore. I remember when I was your age. I was so worried every day I'd end up home in tears... The thought of my Dad leaving and all the bullying hurt. That was until Gramps taught me something. Karate. I trained and trained and by the time I was 8, I earned my blackbelt! Of course he passed on some time after and he passed the Chitama dojo onto me and Gram... but I'm still proud of what he taught me, kick-butt karate and swimming skills aside. He taught me to be tougher, stronger! To face the world with a wild heart and nothing but that! To be... well, me! But while I still hate thunder and lightning and I still hate to feel alone... I know for a fact I can do anything for one reason..." the current day islander explained.

"What was that?" the younger asked.

"For "Ichariba Ohana". You'll meet a friend who teaches you that, you know?" she stopped with a chuckle.

"I might be too tough to admit I'm scared, but I can admit that things get better with a little help from friends and family. You become me, you know? You become someone who's able to take on the world with a smile and a hand on heart... and a kata inbetween", she continued.

She raised the younger's smaller hands again. "So please... fight this. Be reunited with your "ohana". We're the same rough tomboy with a good heart, right?" she said, grinning to her younger equivalent.

Her surroundings began to go from black to white, as she looked into the older her's eyes. She believed every word of what she said. Because it was like Yuna had said, "she _becomes_ her".

The youngster's head nodded with an equal grin. "Okay... I will... I will! Meet once, family forever!" she beamed.

The two hummed Mom's memoir to Yuna, her lullaby- together as the space around the young and the old turned fully white and blinding, the midst of this fever dream coming to an end...

"_Baby of mine..."_

* * *

Yuna's eyes had widened as she sat at the end of a vision in her head, tears breaking through her hollow stare. The very thing she cared for was doing something miraculous to her against the "Helios".

"Ohana... means family... family... means nobody gets left behind... or forgotten... I... I remember..." she said.

Chiro smiled at Yuna as the Kamihara-monster brought its claw down, her eyes closed and expecting herself to be dead in a moment.

...

...However, the nightmare's claw had completely missed Chiro, stuck away from her head entirely. Even moreso, it was broken off, as if the Kamihara-based beast had grown unstable.

Suddenly, Yuna clutched her head- it throbbing and hurting more and more as what was truly her collided with the chemical reaction of that of the "Helios" inside. She let out a loud and painful scream before she fell to the floor of the pink core, fainting...

Meanwhile, the self-defense abomination did similar, grabbing its head with an equally loud scream. It clutched its only one hand on its head as the whole of its body, disembodied and disfigured claw broken from its body near Chiro included, began to melt.

More and more, the nightmare began to degrade and break down until it became a mixed tan and purple puddle that further degenerated from there. Chiro sat herself upright as she watched the fearful creature dissolve into nothing, panting...

As she caught her breath from her near-death experience, she ran over to Yuna, holding her unconscious body with both arms.

"Yuna! Oh, Yuna... you're safe..." she said, happy she wasn't able to hear her "idol" in such a depressed manner. That was never her in the first place unless something really set her off. Alas, she was overjoyed to have got through to Yuna with a word she held near and dear to her.

Chiro noticed the "Helios" core was getting smaller and smaller, it starting to fade around her as she stood, Yuna in tow.

"I was brave, Kyo... you owe me a Stitch Shaker..." the Yokoi teen said with a smile.

The two had landed on the higher walkway of Kotokan Tower, the core fully faded now.

Suddenly, a boom was heard from afar in the clouds above. Coming down from the skies one drop at a time was rain- pounding against not just the city's skyscrapers and buildings, but the purple mass of the "Metropolis" project's "Helios", breaking it down with every pint of salt within the raindrops.

In a matter of time, the mass that had rattled the north part of the city had dissipated into nothing, leaving dead trees dash nature and a few buildings off tilt from the assault, their beams and inner workings showing as they teetered. And all without it pouring in and ruining the Genjiyama Park or the farther out Gozan.

Chiro looked up as the rain hit her and Yuna with a smile. "Guess we did that, huh dudette? Together... Ichariba Chodei..." she said with a fangirl's giggle following.

"Always wanted to say that!"

She watched above as the cords of the Chrystek fell, the ship levitating back into the air and flying over the city once more. It was as Jumba explained, once the cords of the ship went off, there was no way to fix them unless you had a tremendous amount of psychic power to place them back.

And without the amplifier unit plugged in, Xanthers was lacking that power. This bought them a lot of time...

Almost as sudden as the "Metropolis" project degenerating to nothing, Chiro heard the tone of the Good Deed Memory again, as she reached into her overalls' pocket and pulled out Yuna's device. She could've used her Samsung cell phone, since it was now able, but the alien device seemed more convenient.

After a press of its star button, she saw it was the entire group.

"Teenage girl, you broke her control!"

"DUDE, YOU DID IT! Man, I could shed a tear at ya, Chiro..."

"Tookibawaba!"

Jumba, Kyo, Yuna's own Experiment and even Pleakley and the opposite Stitch in the background all voiced their cheers to the teenage soul as she gave her smile to the video feed of the group, no words spoken.

"We are not done though... the little girl has only been subdued of "host" process. What you just saw was very breaking of said process, but what we need to do now is to get this girl to "place of clarity", the Kweltikwan Admin explained.

"A place of clarity? Whaddaya mean clarity? We've got plenty of it here, Jumba?" Pleakley argued.

Jumba merely shook his head at his Plogonarian partner. "Not a case of feng shui here, Pleakley... what I mean is, we've got to free her from whatever "Helios" is left inside before it comes back around in hour's time... and the only way to do that is the same way we destroyed the bigger one... Saltwater... do we know a place like that?"

Kyo nodded his head with a smile, as if to recall a place he kept secret.

"I do Jumba. Crescent Beach... kinda my own little peace of paradiso. Chiro, dude- meet me and the others there with Yuna in tow, okay? I've gotta call Jonathan up and tell him to keep the city dudes beachside 'til we're rid of Xanthers..." he explained.

Chiro nodded, knowing perfectly well the scenario at hand. "Right, I'll take the elevator down the tower and meet you guys there.. Ciao!" she said, smiling at the group before ending the call.

She looked to Yuna in accomplishment, smiling at the unconscious girl as she pushed her onto her back.

"Don't you worry, Yuna... you'll be yourself in no time..." she said as she walked into the Tower elevator near the high floor of Kotokan Tower and began her trek towards Crescent Beach...

* * *

The way to Crescent Beach wasn't as blocked off as one would've thought from the shifting buildings and dead nature around from the material before it. Carrying Yuna seemed to slow things down too, for a girl who was on a good diet, she was still quite a bit to carry.

Alas, it didn't take long for Chiro to go down the right alleyway she knew well and make it to where Jumba, Pleakley, Kyo and the Stitches all lied on the beach's sandy and beautiful shore as the rain came to a early morning standstill...

Kyo ran up to Chiro and gave as big a hug he could to Chiro, being mindful of Yuna in her arms.

"DUDE! Chiro..." Kyozuki stopped a moment before looking at her.

"I knew you could do it..." he finished his sentence with an honest smile.

Chiro looked at him with a light blush on her face to the Yamada boy. "Being brave? It's easy when you're led by the right people..." she said, smiling at him as if he'd know what she was talking about. Luckily, he knew and he gave a smile right back around.

Kyo took Yuna into his arms, walking towards the waters that crashed against the sands consistently.

"Jumba told me we have to hold her underwater 'til all of that gunk comes out," he said in a serious tone.

"Hold her underwater?! But won't the little one drown? This is honestly a bad idea!" Pleakley butted in.

"Not unless you're her... besides, I know from the TV show that Yuna can hold her own in water, above and below" Chiro explained, coughing an answer that sounded like "2 minutes" inbetween, clearly knowing how good the islander's lungs were.

Jumba nodded to the Yamada as he walked out onto the ocean waves, him nodding back. It was now or never.

Kyozuki lowered Yuna fully under the ocean water, still keeping his arms over her in case she started to drown. Coming out of her nose in a trail was the purple "Helios". As it met the ocean's surface, it began to sizzle and dissolve into nothing.

"Eugh... that's not a very sanitary way to come out," the opposite Admin said, disgusted. And for a Plogonarian to say that, it had to have been quite repulsing.

Second after second passed until a full 30 seconds had gone by. The last of the "Helios" had oozed out and melted away into nothingness as Yuna's body had laid floating underwater.

Yuna's Stitch stepped forward in worry, hoping that did the trick.

"Did... did that do it?" Kyozuki asked, keeping a careful eye on her.

It was then that Yuna's eyes had opened up. Instead of the dim purple hue and the hollow eyes that were previously met with, her eyes had light in them and looked as they always should have, a flush of pure brown.

Looking up at the rippling surface, it took her a moment to realize she was submerged as she tried to breathe out only to find a bunch of air bubbles leave her. With a cover of her mouth, she jolted up and broke the surface, coughing to herself as Kyo let her sit on the sandy coast of Crescent Beach.

"Yuna! Dude, you're back to being you again!" Kyo said with glee.

Yuna looked to the others. "Guys?" she said, her tone coming back to her.

"YUNA!", Yuna's Stitch ran forward, disregarding his usual hate of water for a moment as he hugged his "ohana".

"Meega was worried..." he said as Kyo and Chiro hugged her as well.

"Yeah, us too, dude..." Kyo and Chiro said in unison over Yuna.

She gave one more cough. "Thanks... for saving me, guys..." she said to the others, getting herself up and hugging the three of them, patting their backs with both of her hands.

"I'm glad you guys got me outta that mess... I thought I'd never come back to being me..."

"Well, don't mention it, dudette. After all, "nobody gets left behind", am I right?" Kyo said to Yuna, who equally gave a smile and a nod of her head back to the teen.

Kyo's Stitch walked up to them, Yuna especially given what she had been through tonight. "So... tay okitaka, Yuna?" he asked, rubbing his arm in shy way.

Yuna looked at her hands in curiosity. "You know... it's funny, my arms and legs feel totally weird, but... I feel fine. In fact, I feel better than ever!" she said with a nod, doing a few karate kata with precision before allowing herself to fall into the ocean, floating there with a grin and a blissful sigh.

Chiro though, had something for Yuna.

"Hey yo, Yuna!" she said, Yuna's head perking up out while floating on the water. Chiro reached for the top of her head and threw Yuna her bubbly hat.

"Here, I kept your hat warm for you!" Chiro said as it landed on her chest.

Yuna smiled and picked herself back up, fitting the hat on her head but not bothering to fix her tri-tailed hairstyle. "I knew you wouldn't lose that on me!" she said giggling.

Kyo had some explaining to do given tonight's events. "Well, needless to say- because of what happened tonight, our cover's blown... that means you guys and your disguises'll be no more from hereon in, dude..." he said, lowering his head in a sorry state.

Yuna smiled though, not phased by this news. "Ah well, who cares? Just so long as there's not people asking us to do ridiculous things, at least we won't have anything to hide this time, huh? We're good. And if we're just that, we'll know what to do no matter what reality seems to think."

Yuna was right. What was there to hide now? If they were going to stop Xanthers, they were going to do it as a team of just themselves, nothing to camouflage who they really were. Just a group of humans and aliens fighting for the side of good.

Kyo seemed delighted at this and nodded to Yuna. "I guess that's the best way to look at it, huh? Like Jonathan said, "we've got nothing to hide", dude..."

"Well, duh! That's the _only_ way to look at it now!" Yuna said, as Kyo and Yuna equally laughed.

Yuna's Stitch looked up at the Chrystek hanging over the city and casting it in the shadows once more between the balance of night and morning. With Xanthers out of his "Metropolis" and unable to reattach the amplifier cords he used to do damage and read minds in Kamakura's many people, this bought the group precious time.

"So... now we take the fight to Xanthers? Nala kweesta?" Yuna's Stitch said while raising a fist and giving a stern look, pounding it between his other hand.

Kyo merely put a hand on his shoulder with a nod. "Yeah... now we bring the fight to him, dude..." he reassured Stitch.

Yuna nodded as well, giving as firm a glare to the sky as her partner Stitch was. The synergy they had showed well. "The moment you use me in your evil scheme is the moment I say "you're going down" and mean it!"

Jumba nodded at the group's zeal despite how late at night it was. "Then we regroup... and maybe take rest at teenage boy's house. Then and only then shall we pit us against him..." he said, the group nodding and turning around from Crescent Beach to go back to the Yamada house and rest easy. After all, they couldn't fight Xanthers exhausted from no sleep.

The events of tonight had been a sight for the world to see. The group had met the Federation Admins Jumba and Pleakley and stopped what was a cataclysm in the making from happening via the "Metropolis" project. Chiro learned to be brave with herself and saved her "idol", Yuna. It was a small victory, but one that meant a lot for the city of Kamakura.

And now, it was the final countdown. The Stitches, Kyo, Chiro, Yuna and both of the Admins against that of one psychokinetic madman, Dr. Helios Xanthers... could they win against him come daybreak at his own turf?

They didn't have a choice masking it anymore, as reality had now met fiction and the world knew that the characters they loved were real and fighting with ordinary people to save the Earth. And it was only a matter of time for the group to show the Chryston doctor what was coming to him...


End file.
